Find The River
by ElvishGrrl
Summary: Set 4 years after Elena & Damon get together. Vampire/human relationships can have some big drawbacks. Life altering choices & sudden new developments arise. Can they navigate these complications together?
1. Homecoming

**A/N**_ This story is meant to be a companion piece to one of my completed stories, "What Was Lost", set four years later. Having said that, you absolutely do not have to have read "What Was Lost" to read and understand this story. I'd recommend it of course, but that's more for purely selfish reasons of me wanting you guys to read and review all my stories! :) This chapter is very angsty. PLEASE don't give up on this story after one chapter - it gets better. Elena is on a self-discovery journey. I promise the angst will be worth your while! Just keep reading. :) Thank you in advance for letting me know your thoughts by clicking on the little Review link at the bottom of the page._

***DISCLAIMER*** _I do **NOT** own Vampire Diaries or the characters associated with Vampire Diaries. No copyright infringement intended._

* * *

**Find The River**

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Homecoming**

"Hey now, little sleepyhead,  
The read on the speedometer says  
You have to go to task in the city  
Where people drown and people serve.  
Don't be shy. Your just deserve  
Is only just light years to go.

Me, my thoughts are flower strewn  
Ocean storm, bayberry moon.  
I have got to leave to find my way.  
Watch the road and memorize  
This life that passed before my eyes.  
Nothing is going my way.

The ocean is the river's goal  
A need to leave the water knows  
We're closer now than light years to go.

I have got to find the river  
Bergamot and vetiver  
Run through my head and fall away.  
Leave the road and memorize  
This life that passed before my eyes.  
Nothing is going my way.

There's no one left to take the lead,  
But I tell you and you can see  
We're closer now than light years to go.  
Pick up here and chase the ride  
The river empties to the tide  
Fall into the ocean.

The river to the ocean goes,  
A fortune for the undertow.  
None of this is going my way.  
There is nothing left to throw  
Of ginger, lemon, indigo,  
Coriander stem and rose of hay.  
Strength and courage overrides  
The privileged and weary eyes  
Of river poet search naiveté.  
Pick up here and chase the ride.  
The river empties to the tide.  
All of this is coming your way."

- "Find The River" lyrics and music by R.E.M.

* * *

Elena Gilbert felt a conflicting blend of both melancholy and excitement as she loaded the last of the bags and boxes into her car. Slamming the lid down on the overstuffed trunk, she stepped back inside the small apartment she'd shared with her best friend Caroline Forbes in Richmond over the past four years for one final look around.

This space held a lot of memories for her, many of which she knew she would look back on fondly in the years to come. Time spent studying, laughing and drinking with Caroline and sometimes her other best friend, Bonnie, too, if she happened to be visiting. Moments when they comforted each other, complained about their boy problems, ate brownie-chunk ice cream and watched sappy girly movies together. Those rare occasions when they weren't talking to each other, because each of them had a tendency to speak their minds and to be incredibly stubborn about their opinions. Thankfully they also were both very quick to forgive each other and to hug it out. She and Caroline had been close friends since way back in first grade, and there was very little she could think of that could drive a permanent wedge between the two. God knows Elena had come close a few times, though.

She walked through each room, closing blinds and opening closet doors to be sure everything was emptied. Caroline already moved the last of her stuff out a few days ago, but Elena had to write her last exam yesterday, so she'd decided to wait and pack up the remainder of her things and head out today. This apartment that they'd spent these past years learning and growing together in suddenly felt so much larger now.

So much emptier.

Her footsteps echoed hollowly on the linoleum.

Satisfied that no trace of their time as students living here remained, with the exception of the rosey pink that Caroline had insisted on painting her bedroom, Elena locked the door behind her and trotted down the steps to her fully packed car. All the muscles in her entire upper body ached from loading boxes for the last few days. Tyler and Matt had helped the two girls as much as they could, and the majority of her belongings were already waiting for her back in the house that she grew up in, but this was the final load and she had wanted to do this last bit, take care of these last few moments here, herself. She knew it would give her a sense of closure on this part of her life.

Taking one final glance behind her at the dark red brick building that had been her home away from home for the entirety of her university attendance, she slipped into the driver's seat and turned her key in the ignition.

She didn't know what exactly was waiting for her in back Mystic Falls, as far as her future went. There were some issues that needed to be faced, decisions that needed to be made. Important ones. Probably difficult ones. Quite possibly painful ones. But there were also most of the people that she loved, that she'd been missing, and that she couldn't wait to catch up with again. Visiting only during holidays and summer breaks had been hard on her, but her program was a demanding one and she'd decided during her first year that she needed to spend as much of her free time studying as was humanly possible if she planned on not wasting her tuition money. Her friendships hadn't suffered too much for it, but her relationship with her boyfriend definitely had.

Elena sighed softly to herself as she thought about Damon. He'd been eternally patient with her, but then again he had all the time in the world to be eternally patient. He let on that the long periods of time between them seeing each other, which during this final year only seemed to extend longer and longer, was understandable. That it didn't bother him too much. She was fully aware that it actually did, not only because she could still read him like a book, but also because it bothered her. However, she also knew that she had to do this. He was too much of a distraction and she had needed to focus everything she had on her studies and assignments. It wasn't until last night, lying in bed in her tiny room for the very last time after an evening out with a couple of university friends and a celebratory glass of wine or two, that she finally felt the relief of the weight of her education being lifted off her narrow shoulders. That she began to realize the enormity of the distance she'd allowed to grow between them.

Honestly, Elena had no idea what their current status even was right now. The word 'strained' came to mind. And 'detached'. She wasn't truthfully certain if things were salvageable between them or not at this point. She thought they were. She hoped they were. But for so very long she'd had no concept of living her life without him in it. Then one day a few months ago she'd realized that she was already doing just that. And it wasn't lonely and empty and soul crushing like she'd thought it would be. Sure, she missed him. When she thought about him. But she no longer spent 99.9% of her time thinking about him. She was doing just fine on her own, thank you very much. She was confident, capable and completely self-sufficient. She no longer felt like she _needed_ him beside her in order to make her feel good about herself. Over the past four years she'd grown into quite the independent woman. She'd come a very long way from the broken and often lost girl she used to be and she was really quite proud of herself.

Elena didn't even know if she would stay in Mystic Falls for very long or not. The time had come to look for a real job and there weren't many satisfying journalism roles to be found in a small town. She felt like she was hurtling rapidly towards a huge crossroads in her life where she would have to make some very major decisions that would affect so much. Everything was about to change. Again.

Pushing those intimidating thoughts away for a moment, she thought about the fact that she would be seeing her brother Jeremy in a few days for the first time since Christmas holidays. And Bonnie was already back – Caroline had texted her last night to say she was planning a girls night for the three of them to catch up tomorrow evening. Soon she would see most of her loved ones again, feel their arms around her again and this brought a smile to her face.

Elena turned up the radio and began to sing along with Florence and the Machine as she angled her car onto the on-ramp to the highway. She was going home.

* * *

The only sound echoing in the cavernous room was the low ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner overridden intermittently by the crackling and popping of the fire behind the grate. Damon was sitting in the drawing room of the Salvatore boarding house, staring unseeingly into the fireplace with a crystal tumbler containing two generous fingers of untouched bourbon clutched in one hand. The pads of his fingertips silently tapped out random patterns along the side of the glass. Wearing nothing but a pair of black boxer-briefs, he had restlessly stood up, sat down and paced around the large room for a good part of the afternoon. He was bored. He was jittery. He was uncharacteristically nervous. He knew she was coming home sometime today.

This had been the longest stretch he'd gone without seeing her since the day they'd met, some six years or so ago. She'd last returned to Mystic Falls over spring break back in February. Easter weekend had come and gone and she'd claimed she had too much studying to do to visit over it this year. It also seemed like whenever he offered to drive there to see her any more, she found yet another reason to put him off. A while ago he'd just stopped suggesting it. Even though he knew she was currently in the process of moving all her things back, he'd decided he wasn't going to offer to help her out until she asked him to. He considered it a small test to see if his assumptions were wrong. They weren't. Unsurprisingly she hadn't asked.

They had spoken briefly on the phone yesterday afternoon – he'd called to congratulate her on the huge accomplishment of completing her last exam. He'd actually been hoping she'd ask him to come, not only to help her pack and move stuff but also to spend that last night in the apartment in Richmond alone with her. Disappointment had enveloped him when he'd realized she wasn't going to and so he'd kept their short conversation light and easy. As if they were only good friends and not two people that had professed their undying love for each other so many times over the past four years that he'd lost count. As if they had not nearly died for each other, had not saved each other countless times. As if they weren't made for each other, as if they didn't belong to each other and weren't meant to spend the rest of eternity blissfully in each other's arms.

He would never end any encounter with Elena without telling her that he loved her. Too many times in the past they had nearly lost each other, and he'd vowed he'd always say those words to her as often as he could, just in case one time it turned out to be the last time. And that conversation was no different. She'd replied the same way she always seemed to any more, with a quick and flippant "You, too" before ending the call. It wasn't the same, but he never said anything about it. It just made his heart ache.

Things had been so good for so long; it was hard to pinpoint exactly when their dynamic had begun to change, when her passion for him had begun to wane. And that was just how he perceived it – that she no longer desired him and was trying to let him down slowly and gently. Over the past few months he'd retreated back into the old sarcastic shell to try to protect himself, as had been his habit before they'd finally began their unconventional love affair at the end of her senior year of high school. For once in a really long time, she hadn't even called him out on it, though. He wasn't honestly sure that she'd even noticed. She hadn't paid him enough attention lately for it to even sink in that he might be hurting over her deliberately enforced distance. Which only made him sadder. She used to be so attuned to him, as he had always been to her. Where did their connection go? How had they somehow allowed so much to come between them?

Damon wondered if she would call him when she got back. Would she come over? Was she perhaps expecting him to be at her place waiting for her? He contemplated that for a moment. He could go over there and meet her, smile as he helped her unload her car, pretend like everything was normal. He could. He even got up and set the glass down on an end table, with every intention of going upstairs to shower and put on something more…presentable. But a few seconds later he just fell back down onto the cushioned leather of the wing chair. He honestly had no idea if his face was still the first face she wanted to see when she got back, like it used to be.

He decided he wasn't up to pretending today. If she wanted to see him, she knew his phone number. She knew where to find him. He downed the amber liquid in a single gulp and reached for the bottle to refill his glass. Moping around here would be so much less irritating if he was so much less sober.

* * *

When Elena passed the big "Welcome To Mystic Falls" sign along the side of the road into town later that afternoon, she felt an acute sense of relief wash over her and her pleasure to be home grew palpable. She had always felt an incredible feeling of belonging envelop her each time she returned to the town where she'd grown up, and right now was no different. She was even more excited to see everyone and everything again.

Parking her car in the driveway of her childhood home, she paused to take in the large two storey white house with the big black-shuttered windows and wide wrap-around front porch with it's white pillars. So many memories were created within those walls. Some wonderful, some horrible, but they were all hers.

Elena was a tad surprised that no one came out to greet her. They did know she was coming home this afternoon, right? She visibly wilted at the idea of having to unload the car all by herself.

She shifted a few bags onto one arm and walked up on the porch. For a second her thoughts wistfully danced back to her first real kiss with Damon so many years ago, shared in this exact spot. Turning her key in the lock, she stepped into the brightly lit front entranceway. Her brother wasn't expected home for a couple more days, but she'd thought Ric might be here, in anticipation of her arrival. Or Damon. Preferably both. Those old familiar butterflies danced through the pit of her stomach for a second at the thought of seeing him and she furrowed her brows. Had she told them when she'd be home? She thought she had. But the silent house had the distinct feeling of emptiness about it.

Frowning, she brought the bags in her hand up to her old bedroom and tossed them into the middle of her floral bedspread.

She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and contemplated who she needed to reach. There seemed to be a hundred reasons both pro and con on going with her first instinct, so instead she decided on a safe bet and called Caroline. She knew her friend would definitely pick up.

"Elena!" Caroline squealed into her ear when she answered. "You're home? Did you get my messages about tomorrow?"

"Yes and yes. Hey, I was wondering if you could maybe do me a favour?"

"Sure. What's up?" Caroline chirped, as usual bursting with more positive energy than a room filled with Elle Woods impersonators.

"Well, um…no-one's here and I kind of need some help unloading my car. And you're so much stronger and faster than I am…" Elena trailed off, hoping her play on Caroline's self confidence in her enhanced vampire abilities would do the trick.

"No problem - I'd be happy to help! Only…can it possibly wait an hour or two?" She mock-whispered, "I'm kinda with Tyler right now, if you know what I mean."

"Say no more - I get the picture. No rush, no rush at all. In fact, I can probably call Ric actually. Don't stress yourself out to get over here quickly," Elena hurriedly assured her. She smiled at the happy tone in Caroline's voice when she referred to Tyler. She remembered when she used to feel that giddy when she spoke of Damon to her friends. Speaking of which, she heard his name mentioned and it brought her focus back as she caught the end of her friend's most recent sentence.

"…you just ask him?" Caroline questioned.

"Um, yeah. You're right. Thanks again, Care. See you tomorrow then. Have fun with Tyler!" Elena swiftly ended the call.

Why _hadn't_ she just called him and asked him to help her out? Shouldn't he have been the first person she contacted? The first person she wanted to see?

She swallowed past a lump that was beginning to form in her throat. What was she so afraid of, anyway? They had made it this far together – surely something as stupid as not having seen each other in a couple months wasn't enough to drive them apart permanently? But it was more than just that, and she knew it.

Rapidly she dialed his number before she could talk herself out of it again. It went straight to voicemail. She didn't know if she was disappointed or pleased about that. Faltering for words for reasons she couldn't articulate, she just left a quick message.

"Damon, I'm back home now. If you're not busy later, maybe we could hang out?"

She hung up. 'Hang out'? Really? What the hell was wrong with her lately? Why did she feel so awkward about talking to him, spending time with him? This current sense of detachment didn't really make sense to her and she knew she'd deliberately been focusing all her attention on her studies more than ever lately in order to delay thinking about this. However, she no longer had any more excuses for avoidance.

Elena crossed her legs on her bed, sighed and dropped her face into her hands. Now that her life was completely open and waiting for her, it should be so much easier than this. She should be eager and ready to take on the whole world with the man she loved by her side. It pained her greatly to know that his presence in her future not an absolute given in her mind any longer.

* * *

His phone beeped again, another persistent reminder of a message waiting to be checked. It had made that irritating chirping noise at him at least once every fifteen minutes or so for almost half the afternoon, like a pushy salesman that wouldn't take no for an answer.

Damon's head was heavy with alcohol-induced fog as he lifted it off the end of the couch and blearily glanced towards his unrelenting phone. He reached out towards it with a shaky left hand and managed to scoop it up before his fingers fumbled it onto the hardwood floor. Maybe he should have just let it fall.

He covered his eyes with one hand as he held it up to his ear with the other to listen to the damned message that wouldn't leave him alone. It was from Elena. A part of him was surprised that she'd called. Groaning, he tossed the phone back onto the coffee table with a clatter.

'Hang out'? She'd said maybe they could _hang out_? What were they - _buddies_ now? Chums? Pals? Seriously? Was she fucking kidding him? He knew every inch of her body better than he knew his own, for God's sake. He knew how to expertly elicit sounds from her that would make even the Marquis de Sade blush. Hell, they'd _done_ things that would definitely make him blush! Damon smirked at the memories. Maybe he was taking all this far too personally. Maybe. But he doubted it.

He glanced over at the phone on the table again. She would be expecting him to call her back. It had already been a couple of hours since she'd left the message – surely by now she'd be wondering why he hadn't yet.

Damon reached out his hand again, hovered it in the air over the phone for a beat, then pulled it back. Was he ready to talk to her? The possibility that he was currently too drunk to keep the mask of detachment in place over his vulnerability crossed his mind, and he decided the answer for tonight was gonna have to be a 'no'. One night of him not coming running when she called wouldn't kill her. Not after so many nights of her not asking. She'd just have to get over it.

And then he groaned in frustration, as, once again, God laughed in his face. He sobered up quickly as his vampire hearing quite clearly caught the crunch of her tires pulling up outside and the subsequent sound of her light steps approaching the big wooden front door.

* * *

**A/N**_ The original idea was inspired by the beautiful song by REM of the same title, but just to reassure you there won't be song lyrics preceding every chapter like "Under My Skin" has.  
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	2. Try Not To Breathe

**A/N **_Thank you for all the reviews and favourites! Yes, this will be angsty, but I hope you will enjoy the journey anyway. This chapter earns it's M rating - you've been warned! Please let me know what you think by clicking the little link at the bottom and leaving me a review. Each and every one puts a big grin on my face! Special thanks goes to _jazzywriter22_ for betaing and _Angel's blue eyed girl_ & _lauren3210_ for pre-reading this chapter for me. Please go read their stories - all 3 are just amazingly talented writers! OK, here we go with Chapter 2..._**  
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**Chapter 2 – Try Not To Breathe**

Elena hesitated as she stood in front of the large oak door to the boarding house. She knew he was home – his classic blue Camaro was parked out front. What she didn't know was why he had yet to return her call. Or what exactly she planned to say to him once they were face to face.

Alaric had come over and helped her unload her car, thank goodness. They'd shared a pizza and the latest gossip, and later she'd sent a few text messages to Bonnie and Matt to let them know she was home. After a few hours of not hearing back from Damon, and Ric not having a clue as to why, she'd decided that she'd just bite the proverbial bullet and head over to his place.

Now she stood here feeling like an idiot in front of this door that she'd probably walked through a thousand times in the past. Hell, technically, this was actually _her_ door. The Salvatore brothers had signed over ownership of the mansion to her more than five years ago, in an effort to keep all other vampires out without invitation. Unfortunately she'd died, briefly, shortly thereafter rendering that wonderful plan moot. None-the-less, in the eyes of the law, this house still belonged to her.

Before Elena could reach a conclusion on whether to knock or just walk in like she usually did, the heavy door was pulled open and suddenly she was staring into a very familiar pair of clear blue eyes.

She felt her hesitancy drain away immediately as she was overwhelmed by a wave of intense joy at seeing Damon's face again. Flashing a bright and genuine smile, she stepped forward to wrap her arms around his bare, muscular torso in greeting. She frowned against the angle of his collarbone when she felt his body stiffen beneath her hands for a moment, but then he seemed to relax and she felt his arms drift up and around her lower back to pull her in to him. He smelled strongly of bourbon, but underneath lingered the light fragrance that seemed to be a combination of peppermint, anise and something else that her brain would only identify as musk, although she knew that wasn't quite right – a unique scent which was intrinsically Damon. She had always loved it. As she deeply breathed him in, it hit her like a freight train how acutely she'd been feeling his absence. Elena swallowed as she felt her throat constrict with emotion.

"I've missed you," she breathed against the stubbly skin of his neck.

She heard him make a low hitching sound in the back of his throat before he softly replied into her hair, "I've missed you, too, 'Lena."

Pulling back slightly, Elena looked up into his incredible eyes. As always, his intense gaze seemed to penetrate her right through to her very soul. She felt completely exposed – like the truth of her heart was laid wide open to him - when he looked at her like that. For the first time in an extremely long time, it made her somewhat uncomfortable.

"Sorry I hadn't called you back yet," he said, as she leaned back into him again and broke their eye contact.

"It's OK," she whispered. It was.

And because she didn't know what else to say, didn't know what else to do, she simply put her hand on the back of his head and pulled his lips down to hers. The jolt of electricity that shot through her veins the second they touched set off a hot spark of lust deep within her.

Had she really not been in these arms in over two months? Had she really not kissed these soft lips, ran her fingers through this thick hair? It didn't seem possible. Time and distance and frustration melted away almost instantly as they strained to banish any slight amount of space between their bodies. She vaguely registered the door slam, before her back was pressed up against the solidness of it as his plundering of her mouth grew more intense. Damon's hands swept though her hair and down the curves of her suddenly overheated body as she noted the obvious evidence of his arousal jutting firmly against her belly.

In no time at all she felt herself being lifted as he sped them upstairs to his bed.

Elena fell against the softness of his duvet a split second before his hard body crushed hers into the mattress. She loved it when he took control in the bedroom; here was one place she had no problem relinquishing it.

She gasped for much-needed air as his lips left her mouth and began to trail a damp line along her jaw to locate that sweet spot below her earlobe. His questing fingers had already found their way under her shirt and before she knew it her bra was undone and both it and her top were being pulled over her head. The rest of her clothing quickly followed them onto the floor. Sucking in a sharp breath, she felt the cool air hit her bare skin and immediately turn her nipples into small hard pebbles.

Damon grinned as he paused for a moment to reacquaint himself with the loveliness of her firm little body. Elena had filled out a bit since the first time he'd had the pleasure of seeing her naked nearly four years ago. Less sharp angles, more delectable curves. She was even more perfect to him now.

Very deliberately he lowered his mouth to capture a pert breast between his lips. Her skin tasted like vanilla and honey on his tongue. The low moan that escaped her made his swollen cock harder still, if that was possible. God, this girl – the things she could do to him just with the noises she made when he touched her. Nothing pleased him more than knowing he was pleasing Elena.

He ran his fingers slowly along her side, making sure to flick over the unattended nipple with his thumb on the way down. He smirked at her sharp intake of breath he got in response.

Two months was an excruciatingly long time to go without sex for him. Though he'd never cheat on Elena, he did sometimes wonder if she knew the incredible torture her self-imposed separation had inflicted on him. His over-active imagination and hands were not in the least bit comparable to the real thing – who was currently shivering and moaning underneath him as he trailed his fingers down her abdomen with painstaking slowness and came to a rest just where her lower curls began.

Noting her soft sigh of frustration when his hand ceased its journey below, he smiled against her breast and shifted his lips over to lavish attention on the neglected one. She bucked her hips up once against his fingers, as if urging him to continue.

"Something wrong, Elena?" he cheekily murmured, before taking her nipple in his teeth and kneading it gently between them.

"God…Damon. Don't stop!" she groaned.

"Stop what?" He was teasing her now. "What do you want me to keep doing?"

"Stop talking. Keep touching…" she trailed off when his fingers abruptly found that tiny bundle of nerves between her thighs and pressed down.

"Touching where? Here?" he whispered against her flushed skin. Damon looked up to watch her face with interest. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and held her breath when he began rubbing circles over her most sensitive spot, alternating pressure as he went.

"Yessss!" she breathed out and suddenly twisted his hair into her fingers, tugging his face back down and wordlessly demanding his lips resume their attention to her breast. He drew it firmly into his mouth and began to suckle her with an intensity that he knew she loved. Her delicious squeal quickly rewarded him for his efforts.

No more teasing – going slow was just as much torment for him as it was for her right now. Slipping two fingers into her incredibly wet channel, he began stroking her velvety flesh in time with the patterns his thumb was pressing against her clit. She was beginning to shake under his ministrations already and he knew her first climax was rapidly approaching.

Elena gasped again as he lifted his mouth away from her breast and quickly slipped down between her legs to allow his tongue to take over where his thumb had left off. Oh God, the things this man could do to her body! She was putty in his hands – willing, pliant and trusting him to do with her exactly as he pleased. Because whatever he chose, whatever they did together, it was always amazing beyond her wildest expectations, even after all this time. One thing that she never had to worry about was becoming bored with their sex life. There was nothing routine, nothing passé, nothing _boring_ about it. Damon always – always – managed to turn her on just as easily as flicking a light switch on the wall. It was one of the many things she truly loved about their relationship.

His talented tongue soon had her trembling and convulsing beneath him as her first orgasm in months swept through her. She fisted one hand in his hair and one in the sheets and her thighs squeezed tightly against his shoulders as she rode out the sensations. God, she must have been brain-dead to wait so long for this. He was so very good at pushing all her right buttons.

When her breathing finally began to even out a bit, Elena pushed herself up on her elbows and caught his eyes as he moved back up her body to bring his face even with hers again. He captured her swollen lips in his once more and she could taste the evidence of her pleasure on him. Which, as he knew, turned her on even further.

Reaching down, she wrapped her hand around his rock-hard shaft. She pulled her face back from his and seductively murmured, "Let me return the favour."

He rolled over onto his back, but before she could lower her mouth to him he changed his mind.

"Wait," Damon groaned, feeling like he must be certifiably insane for stopping her. "Don't. I…" he trailed off, and dragged one hand over his face and through his hair. "I need you, Elena. I need to be inside you. Right now."

She flashed him a grin and he understood that was exactly what she wanted, too. Grasping her hips, he lifted her up and on top of him. She carefully positioned her thighs and slowly, ever so slowly, lowered herself onto his nearly-painfully throbbing cock.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment for them both. They maintained eye contact while their bodies adjusted together and each remembered exactly how perfectly they fit.

Reaching one hand up into her hair, Damon pulled her face down to his for another deep kiss, swirling his tongue into her mouth and against her own. As he broke it, he whispered against her lips, "I love you, you know that right?"

"I do," Elena replied. And then she began to move and with each powerful swivel of her hips down onto him, he found it more and more difficult to focus on what she hadn't said.

* * *

A few hours later, Damon was still lying very much awake wrapped around her and listening to her even breathing as she slept peacefully curled up against him. He was ecstatic to have her back in his bed, back in his arms. There weren't adequate words to convey how much he'd been missing her. He pressed his nose into her hair and inhaled the delicate scent of strawberries from her shampoo.

Their lovemaking had been mind-blowingly amazing, as always. It was no wonder she was exhausted and asleep so early in the evening. He gently stroked one hand down her mahogany coloured hair. If he weren't a vampire he was sure he would've been spent and passed out, too. She'd even let him bite her tonight, which was something she had only allowed a handful of times over the years. She seemed to take pleasure in it when it did happen, but she very rarely offered and it wasn't something he ever wanted to pressure her about. He could still taste the unique honey-sweet flavour of her blood on his tongue.

She hadn't once told him that she loved him, though. Damon frowned and tried to remember the last time she _had_ said it. He was pretty sure it was over spring break, probably just before she'd left to go back to Richmond. She hadn't said those words to him on the phone in a very long time. Was she even aware of this? He'd certainly noticed. And every time she had the opportunity to tell him and didn't, it broke his heart just a little bit further. Though he had been reassured tonight that she still desired him physically, an ever-greater part of him was beginning to doubt whether she was actually still in love with him.

Elena mumbled something in her sleep and rolled over, turning her back to him. He pressed his hands against her taut stomach and tugged her firmly against his chest to spoon her body skin to skin like he always did. This time, however, she pulled away slightly, so that there was a gap of a few inches between them. He looked down at that small chasm and realized it symbolized so much more than just an air space separating their bodies. He didn't know what was going on with them, or why, but he knew he hated it.

* * *

_Elena is dreaming. She knows it's a dream, although she's not exactly certain how she knows this. It doesn't faze her though; she has lucid dreams like this every once and awhile. Looking around, she recognizes that she's in Damon's library. She walks about, slowly running her fingers over various surfaces – tables, walls, spines of books, backs of leather chairs. It's been a long while since she's spent any time in this room. She goes to wipe her dusty fingers off on her jeans and realizes she's not wearing any. She's not wearing anything, actually. It seems like she should be cold, but she's not._

_Wondering where Damon is, she pauses to listen intently. Which in itself is odd, as she doesn't have the enhanced vampire hearing he does. But she hears him anyway. He's making strange sounds, ones she's never heard him make before. She follows the low breathy noises until she finds him. He's sitting with his back against the bathtub in the middle of his bathroom floor, his face in his hands._

_She pauses in the doorway as she realizes he is crying. She has never seen him cry before. Watching him for a few moments, she wonders why he hasn't yet noticed her standing there._

"_Damon?" she says softly, but he doesn't look up or respond._

_Stepping forward, Elena gently lays her hand on his quivering shoulder, taking care not to startle him. His bare skin feels cooler to the touch than usual. He doesn't even flinch. It's like he has no idea she's even in the room with him. _

_She narrows her brows. _Interesting_._

_Suddenly she feels herself become overwhelmed with a huge wave of empathetic sadness and within seconds tears begin coursing down her own face. It's incredibly strange, because she has no idea the reason for them. She just knows she's crying because he is._

_Even though she's now aware that he won't feel her, Elena kneels beside him, wraps her arms around his shoulders and presses her face into the crook of his neck. She completely opens herself up emotionally and tries to absorb as much of his sorrow into herself as possible. To take away his pain. To lessen his burden._

* * *

A sudden loud sound awakened Elena abruptly from a deep sleep. It took her a few seconds of disorientation to realize she was wrapped up in the warms blankets of Damon's bed. He wasn't beside her any longer, though. The shower wasn't running and the house seemed completely silent. Could that have been the slamming of the front door that woke her up? She lifted her head to glance around the empty sunshine-filled room and frowned. Did he leave?

She reluctantly untangled herself from the soft Egyptian cotton sheets and stretched. Oh man, were her muscles ever sore this morning! She'd probably be achy for a couple of days. Any residual stiffness was well worth it though – last night had been simply incredible. The best sex they'd had in a really long time, and they always had the most incredible encounters. One hundred and fifty plus years of experience had truly made Damon into the sex-god he'd always claimed to be. The man had every reason to be cocky about his prowess. The things he could do to her – she was blushing just thinking about some of them, even four years along. Elena made her way into the bathroom to take a shower, possibly a cold one at this point.

As she stepped onto the heated ceramic tile, she had a sudden flash of her most recent dream and remembered finding him sitting with his head in his hands on this same floor. Her heart clenched at the painful recollection. What was that all about, anyway? He'd had no idea she was there – like she was a ghost or something. And she'd felt everything he was feeling. Even now she still felt an incredibly strong sense of despair wash over her just thinking about it.

She shook her head once, briskly, as if to clear out the strange emotions, and stepped into the shower. Glancing down at her arm as she turned on the water, she noticed the two small, neat fang marks high on the inside of her right wrist. They didn't hurt and she only vaguely remembered how they got there. She ran her fingers thoughtfully over the twin scabs before she reached for Damon's body wash.

When she went downstairs fifteen minutes later, she realized her first instinct had been right. He wasn't here. There didn't seem to be any note left anywhere, either. How odd. He always loved to wake up beside her, usually followed by a quick morning romp to start their day. Elena laughed a little to herself. Something really important must have come up for him to skip out on the opportunity for first-thing-in-the-morning sex. Or shower sex. Or both.

Deciding to head home for breakfast instead of waiting around for who knew how long for him to return, she gave one last glance about and went out to her car.

* * *

Caroline and Bonnie showed up at her door at promptly 7:00 that evening, with two bottles of red wine and a couple of DVD's in hand. To say she was pleased to see them would be an incredible understatement. There was a great deal of squealing and hugging; it was just like they were teenagers again.

Elena got out three stemmed glasses and it wasn't long before the wine was flowing freely. Bonnie caught them both up on her love life – her latest boyfriend was a bass player in a band who was about a head and half taller than her, which instigated several very personal questions from Caroline. She seemed to be heads over heels for him, which pleased Elena to no end. Before long Caroline was telling them more details about her wild sex life with Tyler than the other two really needed to know and much childish giggling ensued.

Aware that the conversation spotlight would soon be aimed at her, she disappeared into the kitchen to grab a fresh bottle of wine and surreptitiously check her phone for a message from Damon. She hadn't heard from him once today and was starting to get a bit worried. Elena knew she would need to be at least another glass down before she was ready to talk about _her _relationship with her friends. She chewed her bottom lip. Possibly not even then.

There were no new messages.

She sighed and walked back into the living room with the Merlot. As she came through the doorway her friends immediately stopped speaking, which was never a good sign.

Elena forced a laugh as she set the freshly de-corked bottle on the coffee table. "Talking about me?" she teased.

The girls regarded each other sheepishly for a second, then Bonnie jumped right in. "So, have you seen Damon since you've been back?"

Well, that hadn't taken long.

"Yeah, what's going on with you two these days?" Caroline inquired.

Elena glanced away from them and self-consciously tugged her sleeves down over the backs of her hands before responding. Though it was really none of their business, she hoped they wouldn't notice his bite mark.

"Yes, I saw him last night." She frowned as she contemplated the second question. "I'm honestly not sure where we stand right now."

"Really?" Bonnie seemed genuinely surprised to hear it. But she hadn't lived with Elena for the past four years like Caroline had. The blonde had known something wasn't quite right between Elena and Damon for a while now. She was also aware that her friend hadn't wanted to talk about it before.

Elena topped up her glass and took a big gulp before continuing. With a nervous laugh she said, "Yeeeah." The other girls looked at her expectantly. They were obviously waiting for her to elaborate but she really didn't have any idea where to begin.

"I don't know," she sighed. "I just don't know anymore. For all these years he's been all I ever wanted. But now…now I'm not a hundred percent certain what I want. I mean…I don't know." She took a deep breath and downed another large swallow of wine.

"I'm ready to start my future. I mean, my _real_ life. As an adult. I'm not the person I was when we first got together anymore."

Caroline reached over to pat her knee, "I know, sweetie. You've grown up so much and he's stayed exactly the same. You've drifted apart a bit. It's not unusual. Distance and a complicated life can sometimes do that. But now that you're back here, maybe you can drift back together again?" She smiled hopefully at her friend.

Elena looked back at her with a serious expression. "I don't know, Care. I hope so. But I don't know if it's what's best for me now or not. I'm sorry…I know that probably doesn't make sense."

Bonnie spoke up quietly, "It makes perfect sense, Elena."

Elena gave her a small smile and was greatly relieved when she put on "Bridesmaids" and the focus was shifted away from her relationship problems.

When the comedy finished, Caroline grabbed her phone and stepped out onto the porch to touch base with Tyler. Bonnie seized the opportunity to speak candidly to Elena in the blonde vampire's absence.

"Elena, listen to me. It's either one of two things, I'll bet." She held her best friend's gaze as she spoke softly, "Either you know for a fact now that you never want to turn, or you know you want to have kids someday and that's something Damon can never give you. Both are deal breakers, aren't they? So which is it, hon?"

Elena looked down and focused on her hands twisting in her lap. "Both, I think," she whispered. "And I don't know what to do." She felt tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

Bonnie wrapped her arms around her friend and gave her a squeeze. "Whatever ends up happening, you know you'll always have us to support you. I can't even imagine how conflicted you must be feeling trying to decide if giving up the man you love is worth it to have the future you need." She paused and looked into Elena's sad face again. "You _do_ still love him, don't you?"

The tears finally broke free and Elena dropped her face into her hands. Bonnie was sure she saw her friend nodding against her fingers.


	3. Can't Get There From Here

**A/N** A HUGE Thank You to all of you that leave me reviews! And also to those that add me to their favourite lists. I appreciate it so much. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Pretty please let me know what you think by clicking on the review link at the end.

Special thanks again to jazzywriter22 for beta-ing this for me. She takes time for me even though she has no time to spare and for this I highly appreciate her! :)

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Can't Get There From Here**

Damon knew he was running late as he pulled his Camaro into the last empty parking space in front of the Mystic Grill. He was supposed to meet Elena and her friends there to see some live music. Apparently Bonnie's boyfriend's band had a gig tonight and they were all coming out to support him. He didn't know and honestly didn't really care, but Elena had asked him to join them so he thought he should make an appearance, even if he hadn't exactly hurried to get here. He decided if it really sucked he'd have a couple of drinks with Ric, cut his losses and slip out the back.

It had been four days since they'd seen each other. He'd gone out for blood the morning after they were together and she hadn't been there when he'd gotten home. No note, no text, no call. He honestly had no idea why he was even surprised. So he'd jumped right back into his car and just hit the road. Driving fast with the top down for hours on end always did wonders to clear his head. In the old days, he would have exorcised his frustrations by fucking and feeding on some random hot young thing, but - sometimes unfortunately - that was no longer an option for him. He only wanted Elena.

By the time he'd returned to the boarding house, it was completely dark. It was the middle of the night. He'd tried to keep his mind blank as he'd gone straight upstairs to bed. Which still smelled like her, smelled like them. It made him wish he'd just stayed out, because all his anxiety had returned in spades.

Since then, their only communication had been a few text messages and one brief phone conversation. She hadn't come by and he hadn't gone to her. He also hadn't told her that he loved her since the night they'd made love and, once again, she hadn't said it back. It hadn't really been a conscious decision to stop saying it, at least not at first. But, to be honest, at this point he was waiting to see when or if she would notice.

Damon was fully aware that now he was also partially to blame for their recent disconnect, so he'd decided he'd better make some attempt to repair things with her tonight. Arriving so late was probably not the best way to go about it, however.

Tightening his grip on the steering wheel, he stared at the entrance to the Grill and willed himself to get out of the car and go inside. Maybe not tonight, but he knew what he soon would be have to do, what questions he would need to ask her. He just couldn't quite decide if he really wanted to know the answers.

* * *

The band had started into their fourth song and seemed to be finally beginning to lose their nerves and really hit their stride. The music was a blend of garage-rock and blues and the singer's voice was deep, raspy and definitely sexy. At first Elena had been undecided, but now she came to the conclusion that she actually quite liked them.

Bonnie's boyfriend, Nick, was the bass player. He seemed to be all made up of angles and sharp points. He was very tall, very slim with long gangly legs and arms. With shaggy, shoulder-length black hair flopping over very pale gray eyes, a palled complexion and bone structure to die for, Nick was the epitome of an indie-rock musician. The combination of such light eyes and skin contrasted against dark brows and hair made quite a striking first impression. Bonnie couldn't take her eyes off him on stage and the smile on her face was filled with adoration. Elena was really happy for her friend.

She glanced toward the door again for the umpteenth time and frowned. Where was Damon? It wasn't like him to be so late to meet her. And he was over an hour late tonight. Elena was definitely beginning to worry. Mystic Falls was a town where trouble often arrived unexpectedly and Damon was generally a magnet for trouble. She pulled out her phone to text him, as it was way too loud in here to make a call.

Before she could finish typing and hit the send button, she felt a cool hand grasp her elbow. She whirled around to find Damon standing behind her, an apologetic smirk on his handsome face. She raised one questioning brow at him, but he just shrugged. After lifting up on her toes to greet him with a quick peck on the lips, she turned back around to resume watching the band while he made a beeline for the bar. She wondered if he was drunk already? If not, she was sure he would be soon enough. She knew his drinking should probably be a given at this point, but she'd be lying if she said it didn't get irritating sometimes.

Elena stood between Caroline and Bonnie and swayed her hips to the throbbing beat as she tried to find her way back into the groove she'd been enjoying before he'd shown up. Unfortunately her stomach chose that moment to begin churning and twisting the vodka tonic she'd had. The pleasant slight buzz she'd been feeling seemed to have deserted her.

She glanced at Bonnie again and noticed that her friend had a queasy sort of look on her face, as well. Maybe they'd both eaten or drank something that was off? Bonnie headed in the direction of the girl's washroom and Elena decided to follow her.

It wasn't quite as crowded with women as she thought it would be – it seemed most people were out watching the band. Elena found a free sink to splash some water on her face. She braced her hands on the edge of the porcelain, looked down, squeezed her eyes shut and drew in a few deep breaths. The knot in her gut relaxed, but only slightly.

As she glanced back up into the mirror she saw Bonnie slowly exit one of the stalls, looking uncomfortable and definitely paler than usual.

Elena straightened and turned to her friend. "Did you just throw up?"

Bonnie gave her a sheepish look and nodded.

"Are you all right?" Elena looked at her with concern.

She nodded again and went to wash her hands and splash cold liquid onto her own face.

Elena frowned and rubbed Bonnie's lower back as she bent over. "Hope so. Can I get you a glass of water?"

Bonnie gave her a wane smile. "Thanks, 'Lena. Don't worry – I'm okay. I'm coming back out with you. Don't want to miss the rest of Nick's set."

Elena noticed colour re-flood Bonnie's cheeks at the mention of Nick and it brought a smile to her own face. It was great to see her happy in a relationship. It had been a long time since Elena had seen Bonnie so head over heels for a guy.

As the girls exited the rest room, Elena glanced toward the bar. There was Damon, familiar glass of liquor in hand, engrossed in conversation with Jeremy. When was the last time they'd seen each other? She wracked her brain. New Year's Eve, she thought. Guess they had lots to catch up on. She knew that these days the two of them thought of each other as family.

She walked over and stood by them. Without breaking eye contact or pausing in his discussion, Damon handed her the glass of vodka tonic he'd already bought for her. She smiled at the fact that he _just knew_ and took it gratefully, having a sip as she looked towards her brother to try to decipher what he was saying over the loud music.

Damon snaked out his arm and pulled her against him as he leaned over to Jeremy so he could speak loudly close to his ear to be heard. Elena had no idea what they were discussing, so she turned to watch the band some more.

After standing with them at the bar for a bit, she noticed Bonnie and Caroline dancing near the front of the stage again. Quickly downing the rest of her drink, she pulled away to go re-join her girlfriends. It wasn't like she was following the guys' conversation anyway.

Bonnie appeared to be feeling much better. Elena caught her eye and raised an eyebrow in question. Her friend gave her a wide grin and one thumb up. Good. She knew Bonnie would absolutely hate to be sick tonight, when she was there to support Nick and probably intended to role-play as his "groupie" later. She shuddered. Now there was an image she didn't need in her brain.

Elena found herself rocking her hips and bopping her chin to the music as she watched the band with her friends. The tight churning coil in the pit of her stomach finally began to subside. Before she knew it, they were announcing that they were about to play their last song and the crowd was cheering them on.

The final song started out slowly and the attractive singer began crooning out his heartfelt lyrics into the microphone while giving longing glances at a pretty redhead near the front. Elena rolled her eyes and smirked to herself. Really? A ballad as the last song of the night? It was so high school. She was just about to turn around to get another drink from the bar when she felt a familiar pair of strong arms wrap around her waist from behind.

Leaning back into Damon's snug embrace, she found herself surrounded by the light scent of his cologne. His entire presence enveloped her. He rested his chin on her shoulder and swayed them both to the beat. Elena closed her eyes and let her body melt into his. Moments like this made her forget everything that had been weighing on her mind. She still felt such a surge of electricity run through her system every time he touched her.

"When was the last time we danced?" he whispered against her earlobe, the vibrations of his words sending a pulse of lust straight through to her core. _Some things never change._

"I don't remember," she answered honestly, shivering a little.

"Me either. It's been too long."

Elena nodded. "This is nice," she sighed and rested her head back onto his shoulder as he moved them together to the music. She let herself relax in his arms and get lost in the moment. She caught Bonnie and Caroline each flashing her a smile as they noticed them seeming happy together.

When the show was over, she straightened up and stepped away from him. Damon quickly grasped her hand and laced his fingers through hers so that she couldn't pull away completely.

Caroline had places to be and Bonnie was headed backstage, which was really just a storage room the Grill had given the band to get ready in, so they said their goodbyes for the evening. Elena made sure to tell Bonnie how much she'd enjoyed Nick's show.

As she slipped into the passenger seat of Damon's car for the first time in months, she pressed her head back against the soft leather of the headrest and closed her eyes. This car, too, enveloped her in the fresh, clean scent of his cologne. She tried to remain in this happy mental place when she heard his door crunch closed after he climbed in beside her. They had yet to have a real conversation since she'd come home, only a few words and a few texts here and there. She knew him well enough to know that even though he hadn't once pressed the issue over her school term, it wouldn't be long now before he would start asking her some difficult questions. The ones she wasn't sure if she knew how to answer yet.

* * *

Elena assumed Damon would take them back to the boarding house, so she was surprised when he pulled up in her driveway. He laid one arm across the back of the seat as he swiveled toward her, not bothering to turn off the engine.

"You're not coming in?" she sounded surprised.

He shook his head. "Nope."

She narrowed her eyes and tilted her face. She'd just taken it for granted that they'd be spending the night together. After their little moment snuggling and swaying while watching the band earlier, she definitely wanted him to stay. Damon Salvatore skip an opportunity to get laid? This wasn't like him at all.

"Why not?" She didn't mean it to come out sounding so petulant.

He ignored her question and stared at her for a moment, pupils retracting slightly as if considering something. Then he spoke quickly, "Can I take you out for a lunch date tomorrow? We could go for a hike after?"

Elena's mouth fell open slightly. A date? How long had it been since they'd done _that_? Months and months. She wondered if he wanted to talk about how weird things were between them right now. Perhaps he thought it would be easier in a public environment? Again she thought that she wasn't sure if she was ready to go there just yet.

Suddenly realizing she was taking too long to answer, Elena quietly replied, "Sure." She reached for the door handle, but he stopped her with his hand on her wrist.

"Not so fast," Damon said firmly as he pulled her into his arms. She was just going to go in the house without a goodnight kiss? This was getting a bit ridiculous. He'd be damned if he would let her give up on them without a fight. Her lips were soft, and she tasted like a sweet combination of citrus and vodka. He kissed her deeply and thoroughly and left her gasping as he pulled back from her.

"Goodnight," he murmured.

Elena had a dazed and lust-filled expression on her face as she regarding him blankly for a second. Then his valediction sunk in. "Goodnight," she whispered back, and slowly stepped out of his car.

Sleep was a long time coming that night. For both of them.

* * *

When Elena woke up the next morning, there was a text waiting for her from Damon.

_Be ready at noon._

She smiled to herself as she slipped out of her warm bed and made her way into the bathroom. As she examined her sleepy visage in the mirror, her eyes dropped to the bathtub behind her. Jeremy wasn't up yet and she had a couple hours before Damon would be here. She sighed happily to herself as she realized there was definitely time for a nice, long, relaxing bubble bath.

The doorbell rang at promptly 12:00, which didn't surprise Elena at all. As opposed to last night's concert, this afternoon's date was his idea, so she'd been confident he wouldn't be late. She swiped on some lip gloss and went to open the door.

As she pulled it open, she was greeting by a humungous bouquet of red and white roses. She couldn't keep from laughing out loud at the sheer size of it. It lowered half a foot and Damon's striking blue eyes peered at her over the top.

"You like?" he smiled, stepping into the foyer and placing them in her arms.

Elena looked down at the huge bunch of roses in awe. There had to be at least four dozen here! "They're beautiful," she exclaimed. "What're they for?"

"Because I wanted to." He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. "Mmmm…you taste like cherry lip gloss. My favourite." His signature lopsided smirk was in place again and he widened his eyes at her in that enticing way he had. His whole facial expression just screamed sexual innuendo. She grinned back at him; she kind of loved it. _Just like old times,_ she thought.

He retrieved the bouquet back out of her arms and went into the kitchen to find a home for them. She followed him into the room.

"Thank you, Damon. But really - what's the occasion?"

"Why do I need a reason to bring my beautiful girlfriend flowers?" He glanced back at her over his shoulder as he rapidly trimmed the stems and placed them in two matching crystal vases he'd found in one of the overhead cupboards.

Elena faltered. "You don't, I guess. I just wasn't…wasn't expecting it. They're really stunning. Thank you again."

He finished arranging the flowers and stepped over so that he was back in her personal space. Holding her gaze, he replied, "_You're_ really stunning. And you're welcome. C'mon, we've got places to go." He grabbed her elbow and angled her towards the front door.

Damon took her to lunch at an unfamiliar quaint little Italian restaurant. He explained that it had only been open for a few months and he'd heard it had an amazingly talented chef. Elena felt a little under-dressed for the simple elegance of the place, but he'd told her they were going for a hike after, so she'd chosen a neat pair of olive capris and comfortable walking sandals. Her hat and sunglasses were sitting on the passenger seat of his car.

From the moment she sat down across from him at the small table, Elena felt that twisting and churning in the pit of her stomach begin again. This time she knew what was causing it, though - nerves. It was a stress reaction to knowing she would soon be forced to discuss the future of their relationship. Her palms were beginning to sweat even before the menus arrived and she knew if she wasn't careful she would start responding to him in irritation as a defense mechanism and he would know right away that something was wrong. She was fully aware that he was generally quite attuned to her emotions.

All throughout lunch, she waited for him to bring it up. Elena was being so careful to not let herself react in an annoyed way to his small talk that she soon found she was only replying to him with short answers or not saying much of anything at all. It all felt so very unnatural and awkward to her.

She excused herself to the ladies room to try to regroup. There she began a series of deep breaths to attempt to calm herself. Filling her diaphragm completely with each inhalation and emptying it completely with each exhalation, she practiced the deep breathing technique she'd learned in yoga classes taken during university.

It seemed ridiculous to feel uncomfortable around Damon when they knew each other so well. She needed to turn her mind off and just enjoy his company. He was obviously making an effort here – the roses, the fancy lunch, the planned hike. He was trying to re-connect with her, to prove to her that things between them could still be as good as they were before. The least she could do was to try to live in the moment and appreciate it.

After a few long minutes it seemed to work. Elena felt her heart rate return to near normal and her stomach calm. She stretched out her tense neck muscles and returned to the table.

When they finished up and he still hadn't brought up anything too sensitive, she felt herself relax even more. He drove them back to the boarding house and parked the car, coming around to open her door for her like the southern gentleman he had been raised to be.

"Where are we going?" she questioned.

"You'll see." He was being cryptic again.

Damon reached over to intertwine his fingers through hers as they began to walk along the ancient dirt path through the woods that lay behind the sprawling Tudor mansion.

He was surprisingly quiet as they strolled, both just enjoying the beautiful scenery. Songbirds serenaded each other from the lush green treetops around them and off in the distance she could faintly hear the roar of the falls crashing into the rocks at the base of the cliff on the Mystic River. Idly she wondered if that's where they were headed.

Occasionally he'd pause and point out something interesting to her. Sometimes he'd stop and dive under the brim of her hat for a quick kiss. It was sweet. She loved and missed this part of their relationship, when it was just the two of them in their bubble and the rest of the world was gone, didn't even matter. She relaxed even more and let herself get caught up in the simple peacefulness of their environment.

As it turned out, she was right in her speculation. After walking for about an hour they eventually came to a small open place by the river near the base of the falls. Damon sat down under a tree and patted the grass beside him for her to join him. She settled down into a sunny spot and leaned against his side as he wrapped one arm around her.

"It's gorgeous here, Damon. Thank you for bringing me."

"Welcome." He was quiet for a bit, his hand slowly stroking up and down her arm as they rested there. Then he shifted her body in between his legs and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. She reclined against his silent chest, closed her eyes and listened to the rhythmic sound of the cascading water crashing against the jagged boulders below.

Eventually his voice startled her out of her serene moment.

"This particular spot holds special meaning for me." Damon paused, as if gathering his thoughts together. "When you were in the hospital those four days, when I thought that you died in front of me and I took off…this is where I ultimately ended up." Deliberately he left out how he'd gotten here. He'd told no one that part.

"I've never felt so…empty…as I did when I thought I'd lost you forever. I was sitting right here, under this same tree, trying to decide if I had the strength – or the will - to go on without you, when Stefan found me. When they told me you were not only still alive, but awake and worried about me…"

Damon stopped again. She turned to look at him curiously when she heard the catch in his voice. He was staring off into the distance toward the river. Finally he continued, "It was literally the happiest moment I've ever known. I was so sure you were gone, Elena. So sure. I have _never_ been so ecstatic to be wrong before." He smiled down at her.

A lump formed in Elena's throat at the memory of that difficult time and realizing just what it must have put him through. They'd both nearly lost each other for good that spring. She reached up and touched the side of his face and he covered her hand with his own.

"Look, I know things haven't been so perfect between us lately. I know you've had a lot on your mind with your studies and I completely understand the reasons why we haven't spent much time together over the past while. I can't say I understand exactly why something's still a little off since you've been back, but I know we can fix whatever it is. We can overcome anything together - we've proven that."

He took a deep breath. "Forgive me for having to ask this, Elena, but…do you still love me?"

Her face shifted into a shocked expression. Her dark eyes penetrated his lighter ones, searching for the reason for his doubt even though deep in her heart she knew exactly why he needed to ask. She swallowed thickly, but instead of replying simply nodded.

Damon reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small box. Elena instantly felt her stomach drop and her insides turn to ice at the sight of it. _No no no no no no! He wouldn't!_

She stared warily at the antique-looking brown box. He carefully pulled it open to reveal a very delicate white gold ring with two dazzling medium-blue stones set in it. Two stones that, in this lighting, were the exact colour of Damon's incredible blue eyes. It was simple and it was gorgeous.

"This is my mother's wedding band. It's set with two sapphires, as that was the birthstone of both my parents. My father had it specially made in Italy for her." He paused and held her increasingly panicky gaze. "I've been thinking about it for a long time now. I want you to have it."

She felt the blood draining out of her face as she gaped at him. This was the very last thing she had expected. "What are you asking me?" she whispered.

Damon took her left hand in his larger one and shifted his body so that he was on one knee in front of her. He smiled at her. "You're gonna make me do this the right way, aren't you?" He continued in a very serious voice, "I love you more than I have ever loved anyone. I want to spend the rest of my – the rest of _your_ life with you. Will you marry me, Elena?"


	4. Turn You Inside Out

**A/N** _Thanks for all your reviews. Hope you like Chapter 4._

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Turn You Inside Out**

Elena's heart sunk down through the centre of the earth as she realized she had mere seconds to de-fuse this moment and prevent an absolute disaster. She knew Damon could read the expression on her face and she also knew how well he dealt with what he perceived as rejection.

She was still stunned by his sudden proposal but she forced herself to switch her brain back on and react. Quickly she placed two fingers against his lips when his face transitioned from anticipation to disappointment. It made her heart hurt to see it.

"Stop, Damon. I know how this goes. You're gonna shut down, lash out, create a fight when there doesn't need to be one." She moved her hands around his neck and pulled his face closer to hers.

"I'll give you an answer. I will. I just need some time…can you give me that, please? This is all very…sudden."

He narrowed his eyes. "Sudden? Really, Elena? It's been four years." He took an unneeded breath. "I thought this was what you wanted. A future together?"

She just looked at him with those expressive large brown eyes that never failed to do him in. He pulled back from her and scrubbed one hand over his face. "I'm an idiot. Obviously."

"No, Damon, you're not…" she trailed off.

Quietly he spoke, "In my time, that's what you did. When you fell in love with someone and wanted to spend the rest of your life with them, you got married. That's what came next." He lifted his gaze to meet hers again. "I've never been in a real relationship before – and don't even mention Katherine, that was _so_ not a real relationship. I'm flying by the seat of my pants here. I know things have been… weird… the past while and I wanted to prove to you that I'm fully committed to you. To us. But I see now that isn't what you want from me at all, is it? I want you. I want this. So the question remains – what do _you_ want, Elena?"

She just stared at him, a hundred different answers racing circles around her brain, each more volatile than the last. Not a one of them seemed appropriate to reply right now.

Elena bit her lower lip and dropped her eyes. Finally, lamely, she breathed, "I don't know." Her voice was as thin and soft as a silken thread.

She was avoiding again and this time Damon would have none of it. "You do SO know. Look, I think I've been fairly patient about all this, waiting for you to make up your mind to explain what's been going through your head lately. Why won't you just tell me the truth?"

He paused and gently lifted her chin up so she was forced to look him in the eyes again. "Haven't we always told each other the truth? Is it that bad?"

She still didn't reply and he noticed one small tear break away from the corner of her eye. Wiping it away with his thumb, he relented a bit. "What is it? Is it me? Is there someone else? Tell me, 'Lena. Please."

Elena quickly sorted though the various issues that had been weighing on her mind. Choosing what she presumed would be the least upsetting one, she finally murmured. "I don't want to turn."

Damon's eyes widened and his worried expression was immediately replaced by a grin. "_That's_ the problem? You think I'm expecting you to turn for me? Let me ease your stressed out mind, honey. That's not at _all_ what this is about. Or has ever been about. I would never – never – ask that of you. If you ever decide you want to someday, and let me be completely clear about this – I do _not_ expect you to – then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

He stroked both hands down the sides of her face, pulled her closer to him and looked deep into her eyes. "I will love you and I will stay with you until the day you die. No matter what. That, I can promise you."

His voiced softened, "And as far as the ring goes, it's yours if you want it. You don't have to tell me right now. Take all the time you need."

A dam suddenly broke somewhere within her and Elena's tears began to pour in earnest down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around him and curled up with her face pressed against his shoulder, trying to hold in the sobs that were demanding to escape. She felt like a horrible human being. He loved her unconditionally. She didn't deserve him.

Damon quietly rubbed circles on her back while she cried herself out. When it seemed like her tears had finally dried up, he ducked his head down and lifted hers up slightly so he could look her in the eye. "Are we okay now?"

Elena's thoughts were still careening around her brain, but she decided that was enough talking about her issues for today. This had been stressful enough without her adding any more reasons into the mix why she wasn't certain if he was the right choice for her future. So she took a deep breath, looked at him wide-eyed and nodded.

He wrapped his arms around her and leaned over close to her ear to whisper huskily. "I'm going to pick you up and speed us back to the house now. You cool with that?"

And just like that everything changed. A hot spark of lust flared up in her lower belly and shot delicious tingles straight down to her groin. The way her body reacted to him never failed to amaze her, even now. "Umm hmmm" she breathed against his neck.

Quick as a flash they were back at the boarding house and she had far different thoughts occupying her mind.

* * *

Elena woke to the sound of her phone buzzing on the bedside table. It was a struggle to extract herself out of her sleeping vampire's protective arms to grab it.

"Elena? Are you at home?"

"Bonnie?" she whispered, slipping her legs over the edge of the massive bed. "I'm at Damon's. What's up?" She got up and stepped into a patch of hazy sunlight beaming in through the window.

"'Lena, I really need to talk to you. I'm so sorry to disturb you when you're there, but…could you please meet me at your place?"

She was sure she heard a catch in Bonnie's voice. "What's going on, Bon?"

"Not over the phone. Can you be home in a half hour?"

Elena checked the clock doubtfully. She would barely have time for a decent shower, let alone a proper good morning to the sexy man lying naked in the bed behind her. But she could tell by her friend's tone that it was important.

"Okay, I'll try my best. See you there." She ended the call and glanced behind her at Damon. He was awake now, leaning up against his pillows with his arms folded behind his head, watching her. She knew he'd heard the entire conversation.

"What's gotten her witchy-knickers all in a twist?" he asked.

Elena replied, "I haven't a clue. Guess I'll find out soon enough."

She sat back down on the bed and turned towards him. Damon's eyes automatically went to her exposed chest and he instantly felt himself growing aroused at the vision of her small round breasts, nipples already puckered from the cool air. "C'mere," he breathed as he reached for her.

She pushed back ineffectually against his hard pectorals. "Damon, you heard her! I don't have time right now." She tried to sound serious but she couldn't hold back a huge grin. There was a playfulness to her tone that he'd been missing for a long time and he decided to take advantage of it.

"I can be fast. Well, no, actually I can't be. But _you_ can be, and I'd be happy to help start your morning off right." He dove his fingers into her hair and pulled her face to his, capturing her lips in a searing kiss.

Damon was the best kisser, full stop, and Elena just let herself give in - he was so easy to surrender to. She reluctantly broke the kiss and gasped against his lips, "Join me in the shower?"

She didn't wait for his reply, just bounded off the bed, tugging his hand behind her as she headed to his luxurious bathroom. He followed easily, eyeing her rounded bottom with a lazy smirk firmly in place.

Elena pulled him into the shower behind her and turned on the hot water. As she leaned forward to duck her head under the spray, his hands slipped around her waist. He ran them slowly up her abdomen and cupped her breasts as he dropped his mouth to her shoulder. She sucked in a deep breath as his talented fingers worked each pebbled nipple and his lips tickled their way along her neck up to the shell of her ear. Exhaling sharply, she arched her back against his firm chest and groaned, wanting and needing more.

He dropped one hand down between her thighs and was unsurprised to find her already sopping wet and not just from the hot water cascading over their bodies. She gasped again as he slipped two fingers into her. "Damon!"

"Yes, hon?" His lips were still doing incredible things to her sensitive earlobe.

"Have to be fast, remember?"

"Oh, I remember," he breathed against her overheated skin. With that he ceased caressing her sex and firmly pushed her against the wet, tilled wall of the back of the shower. Groaning with anticipation, she braced herself with both hands and bent slightly forward at the waist. He lovingly ran his fingers down her spine, over her lower back and continued the path down until he re-found his destination. Her entire body quivered at his touch.

Damon removed his hand and positioned his cock just where it had been. "Ready?" he whispered.

"OhGodyes," Elena exhaled the words in a rush.

"You can just call me Damon," he smirked and he pushed himself swiftly into her heat, stretching her full. The keening sound that flew from her mouth when he was completely seated inside her hot, hot centre made him nearly lose it right then and there.

_Holy fuck, this girl turns me on._

Elena moaned loudly as he began to thrust into her. His fingers gripped her hips, holding her firmly in place. She arched back up against him again and one of his hands slipped back around to that tight bundle of nerves below her curls and pressed down. Immediately she knew that he'd been right – he was playing her body like a violin and she wasn't going to take long at all to find her release. His skilled fingers always knew just what to do to and just where to do it. She felt all her nerve endings being stimulated from both sides at once and she knew she was already about to lose control.

How can he be so damned good at this?

Damon picked up his pace as he sensed she was getting close. Thick clouds of steam rose from the floor of the shower toward the ceiling, enveloping them in haze. The noise of their bodies slapping together skin-to-skin was louder than the drumming of the water against the tile. Louder still were the sounds coming out of Elena.

She was barely aware of the exuberant noises that left her lips as he pounded into her from behind while rubbing firmly against her clit at the front, matching the changes in pressure with his rhythm. Shuddering and crying out his name, the tidal wave that was her climax flooded over her.

He brought his hand back up to her belly and held her body firmly in place to prevent her from collapsing as she convulsed around him. Surprised to feel the familiar tightening in his balls begin so soon, he realized that he was wrong in his earlier assumption. Those sounds escaping from his girl's sweet mouth were rapidly doing him in and he knew this time he wasn't going to be far behind her. They both gasped loudly together as he started to drive into her harder and faster. Three, four, five more strokes and then his own world erupted as he came deep inside her.

When Damon pulled back, she rotated in his arms, tugged him close and kissed him deeply. They held each other up until they both recovered more fully from their exertion and shared passion.

When at last they separated with a sigh, he reached for the bottle of shampoo that she kept here. He began to lather her hair, giving her a gentle scalp massage as he worked it in. Elena closed her eyes and relaxed. Not that he would ever admit it, but she knew he loved to wash her hair. It was another aspect of his sweet side that he only ever showed to her and her alone.

_I must be the luckiest girl in the world._

By the time she was finally dressed and ready, she was running nearly fifteen minutes late. It had been worth it though. It always was.

Damon drove her back home, since her car wasn't at the boarding house. She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss goodbye before she went to open the passenger door. He grabbed her forearm and kept her in place for a moment. Holding her gaze he unequivocally stated, "I love you." He knew this time she had no way to get out of it. She had to say it back or be extremely obvious in her avoidance.

To his immense relief Elena didn't even hesitate. "I love you, too."

* * *

Bonnie was sitting on the porch steps waiting for Elena as she stepped out of the Camaro and tugged her keys out of her purse. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

Elena narrowed her eyebrows at her friend, "Are you okay?"

"Not so much," Bonnie replied. She eyed Damon as he backed out of the driveway. "Can we go inside to talk, please?"

Elena opened the door to the Gilbert home and followed Bonnie into the foyer. Confirming no one was home first, she went to the kitchen make them both a cup of tea. Tea had always seemed to help calm their nerves when they were feeling frazzled.

When the mugs were filled, she brought them over to the table and sat down across from her life-long best friend.

"Okay, now will you please tell me what was so urgent? Dish," Elena urged.

Bonnie looked down at her hands twisting in her lap. Finally, she reached into her purse and pulled out a plastic bag-wrapped bundle. She carefully unwrapped it and held out a flat white plastic stick towards Elena.

Elena drew in a sharp breath. "Is that what I think it is?"

Bonnie just nodded.

Elena gave it a closer look and frowned. There was a small clear window near the bottom. An obvious hot pink plus sign glared at her from inside it.

_Oh shit._

She stood up and went around the table to wrap her arms around her friend. It was clear from Bonnie's demeanor that she was not thrilled about this potentially life-changing development.

"Have you told Nick yet?" Elena slipped into the chair next to her and grasped her hand on the table.

Bonnie shook her head as she looked worriedly back at Elena. "I don't think he's going to be too happy. The band is about to go on their first cross-country tour in a few weeks. He's not even going to be around for months, except hopefully a quick visit or two in-between if he can."

"But you're going to tell him soon, right?" Elena asked quietly. It wouldn't be fair to not tell him, no matter what Bonnie intended to do about her newfound situation.

Her friend nodded again and took a sip of her steaming tea. "Tonight, I think. Tomorrow at the latest." She stared unseeingly past the open shutters and out the front window.

"Bonnie…" Elena wasn't sure how to broach the subject without sounding callous. "Have you thought about what you're going to do?"

Bonnie turned back to her. "Do?" she asked blankly.

Elena hesitated for a moment. "About the baby," she said softly, giving Bonnie's hand a squeeze.

"Oh honey. There's no choice at all for me to make. After what happened with my mom, it was never an option not to keep it." She paused and gave her best friend a small smile. "I'm gonna be a Momma."

* * *

Damon sat beside Alaric at the bar at the back of the Grill, each of them nursing a tumbler of whiskey, no rocks, in their hands. The place was nearly empty in the lull of the post Saturday lunch crowd.

Ric was the first to break the companionable silence, "You must be glad Elena's back."

Damon stiffened slightly. He nodded and took another sip.

Narrowing his eyes at his friend, Ric asked, "Then what's up?"

"Nothing. Everything's great." Damon shot him an obviously forced grin.

"If you say so." Ric raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. He knew he couldn't make Damon talk until he was good and ready to.

They drank in silence for a while longer, studiously not meeting each other's eyes.

Finally Damon spoke, "You'd have to ask her."

"Ask her what?"

"What's up. You'd have to ask her what's up." He grimaced as he took a large swallow and reached for the bottle sitting near them on the bar to top up his now empty glass.

Ric sighed. This was like pulling teeth. "Spill, Salvatore. We've been friends for a long time. What's making you all pissy?"

"Things are good. Right at the moment. But something's still off. I can feel it."

Alaric studied his face and waited patiently for him to continue. When he didn't, Ric prompted, "Still?"

Damon sighed. "I can't quite put my finger on it. We talked things out yesterday after I proposed –"

"Hold on - _what_? You did _what_?" Ric's voice got suddenly loud and he grabbed his friend by the shoulder of his leather jacket. "You fucking _proposed_ to her?"

Damon just shrugged. "Yep."

"Whoa. Are you fucking kidding me? She's 22! And you just finished telling me things are a little 'off' between you. Have you lost your goddamn mind?" Alaric looked absolutely incredulous.

He paused for a breath. "So, how did she respond to that?"

Raising his eyes to meet Ric's directly, Damon stated, "Exactly how you think she did. She asked for time to think about it." He snorted, "What the fuck did I expect, really? And, yes, chances are I _have_ actually lost my mind. Pretty sure I lost it the day I met her."

Alaric couldn't help but laugh at that. It was true. Damon had been head over heels for her for as long as he'd known him. He was worried about his friend, but he was more worried about Elena right at the moment. Yes, they had been together for four years. Yes, they loved each other. But she was still _so_ young. And Ric still felt incredibly parental toward both Gilbert children. He didn't want Elena to feel pressured into anything she wasn't ready for.

He clapped his hand on Damon's back and grabbed the bottle to top up both their drinks again. "It'll be alright. Just give her time. _Lots_ of time would be my advice. What's the rush? You've got forever."

Damon nodded and gulped down the liquor. Yes, he had forever. But he couldn't fathom the idea of spending his forever without her in it.

* * *

The next several days seemed to pass in a flurry of activity for Elena. She applied for a reporter internship at the local community paper. She also filled out application forms and attached writing samples for internships at number of other, further away newspaper and magazine offices. For some of these she would be able to work remotely from home if she was accepted; others would require her being there in person. She didn't spend a lot of time contemplating what would happen if she were actually accepted to a position in a different city just yet. If by some small chance an opportunity did present itself, she would face that decision then.

Yesterday Elena had taken Bonnie to her first midwife appointment. Being a witch, Bonnie felt more of a connection to the ancient natural way of the midwives, than to the clinicalness of an obstetrician. This first visit should have been exciting, but instead had been a stressful occasion because Bonnie had broken the news to Nick the previous night. As she'd expected, he hadn't really taken it very well. He'd been understandably freaked out and said he needed a bit of time to process everything. He'd also been pissed that she had already decided that she was keeping the baby before even informing him of her pregnancy and giving him a chance to provide any input. Bonnie had absolutely no idea where they stood now and the worry had shown all over her face.

Elena thoughts flashed to the pretty gold ring with the two blue sapphires that had reminded her so much of her favourite gorgeous pair of eyes. She'd told Damon she needed some time as well. She wondered how long she had exactly.

The midwife, whose name was Sarah, had explained everything to Bonnie and given her a stack of pamphlets and a shopping list of books to consider. Being that she was only 22, in perfect health and with no family history of pregnancy problems, Sarah had assured her that there was nothing for her to worry about. Elena correctly assumed that Bonnie's biggest concern right now wasn't about the baby, but its father. Hoping to distract her friend for a few minutes from her stress about Nick, she'd told Bonnie about Damon's proposal once they got back to her house.

Bonnie gaped at her in shock when she found out. "You're joking!"

When Elena shook her head with a small smile, her friend grabbed her left hand to confirm there was no ring on it that she hadn't happened to notice yet.

Bonnie gave her a quizzical look. "What did you tell him, Elena?"

Elena didn't say anything for several seconds, aware that her words would echo those that Bonnie had just heard from Nick. Finally she quietly replied, "I said I needed some time to think about it."

"Uh oh. How did he take that?" Bonnie had a doubtful look on her face. She'd known Damon for a long time and was fully aware of his tendency to often impulsively and destructively overreact to being hurt.

"We talked it out. He's okay. We're okay - for now, I think." Elena tried to sound hopeful.

"For now? What's your answer going to be?"

She looked away from Bonnie's gaze. "Honestly? I really don't know yet," she murmured.

Bonnie wrapped one arm around her friend's shoulder. "Do you hear yourself, 'Lena? I think you do know. You just aren't ready to admit it."

A terrified look came over Elena's face. "I can't…I don't want to lose him," she said softly.

* * *

Stefan Salvatore sat in the passenger lounge at Sydney International Airport. He observed the myriad of different people surrounding him, all waiting for the announcement to begin boarding for Qantas flight 314 to LAX. He had a layover in Los Angeles before he would have to catch a connecting flight to Dulles Airport in Washington, DC. He had a very long journey ahead of him, and to be honest he wasn't really looking forward to being locked in a crowded tin can hurtling through the air for that many endless hours. Taking a ship wasn't really a better option though – that would take weeks to get back.

Feeling fidgety and nervous, he started playing with his lapis lazuli daylight ring. He carefully ran his fingers over the engraved silver eagle and monogrammed "S" on top. He began tossing it absentmindedly from hand to hand.

He hadn't been back to the United States in almost two years. He'd been traveling the world with Katherine for the past four, only visiting home once in that time. They'd spent the last five months touring around Australia in the intense heat of the southern summer. He'd even made an attempt to learn to surf. Who would have thought? He smiled to himself at the memory of that fiasco. Occasionally he'd sent a short text to his brother, telling him where they were and assuring him that he was okay. Other than those few messages, he hadn't been in contact with anyone in Mystic Falls since his brief visit a couple of Septembers ago.

The boarding call was finally announced and he casually slipped his ring into the pocket of his jeans as he stood up and grabbed his satchel. No one but Katherine knew he was returning to Virginia, returning to the town where he'd been born some 167 years ago. But things had changed in his life recently and Stefan knew it was finally time to head back home.


	5. Feeling Gravity's Pull

**A/N** - _I want to thank you guys for reading. I'm not in a good place at all after that dismal finale. I won't rant about it here though. But know if you're upset, that I am, too. An angsty story is probably not really what any of us needs right now, huh? Thank you as always for all your reviews. Hope I can re-find my muse soon. :)_

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Feeling Gravity's Pull**

Elena was scrambling to organize a last-minute party. Well, maybe the world 'party' was stretching it a little, but a gathering - a gathering of her closest friends, at her place, tonight. The declared reason was to welcome everyone back home for the summer so they could all catch up and re-connect. The unspoken reason was that Bonnie had asked her to. She wanted to break her news to everyone, all at once, and just get it over with. She couldn't blame her friend for that – sometimes it really was just easiest to rip off the proverbial bandage.

Elena had asked Damon to accompany her to the grocery store to pick up supplies. The plan this afternoon was to make appetizers. Because they both knew that he was a far better cook than she could ever hope to be, he had agreed to help her out. The menu had been left in his capable hands.

Currently she was acting as sous-chef for him, chopping tomatoes, onions, avocados and mushrooms while he prepared bruschetta topping, mushroom-olive tapanade and guacamole dip. She was already salivating just from the delicious combined smells of the blended vegetables and nothing had even been heated yet.

As she reached over to grab one of the many baguettes to cut it into rounds, she decided to let Damon in on the real reason for tonight's festivities.

"So…I have something to tell you," she began, knowing how easy it was to pique his curiosity.

Damon paused in his mixing and tasting and momentarily tensed up at her words. As he turned toward her she caught an apprehensive look flash across his face for a second. "What's that?" He tried to sound only mildly curious.

Elena stopped slicing bread and swiveled to face him, leaning her back against the edge of the countertop. He could tell by the look on her face that it was something serious. His previous worries flared right up again, instantly creating a tight ball of anxiety in his gut.

She bit her lower lip, another not so great sign. "Spit it out, Elena," he gritted, bracing himself for something he probably didn't want to hear.

"Bonnie's pregnant," she said quietly. "That's what this party's about tonight – so she can tell everyone."

Damon visibly relaxed and couldn't prevent a grin from stretching across his lips.

"Why do you look so happy about it?" she asked.

"No reason." He turned back to face the other counter and resumed blending one of the dips.

Elena frowned. She suddenly realized that he'd thought she was about to tell him something unpleasant. She'd seen the tightness in his shoulders when he'd turned around to face her. Clearly he wondered if she still had doubts about their relationship status and it had made him noticeably uneasy.

She walked over to Damon, wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face into his shirt between his shoulder blades, inhaling the light scent of his cologne on his shirt. She planted a small kiss in that spot.

He swiveled in her arms. Smiling, he asked, "What was that for?"

"Just because I wanted to." Elena felt an incredible need to reassure his insecurities. In doing so, she knew she was attempting to assuage her own as well.

Damon leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. "Thank you. Now, Miss Gilbert, if you want all this ready before your guests actually arrive, I suggest you get back to chopping. Because if you keep this up, I'm gonna carry you upstairs and distract you until the moment the doorbell rings. Consider this your only warning." He widened his eyes at her in that way he had that always made her throat instantly dry and turned back around again.

She laughed shakily and went back to slicing the bread and vegetables.

* * *

Elena was up in her bedroom changing into a tomato splatter-free shirt when the doorbell rang, signaling the first guest's arrival. She heard Jeremy answer the door and noted Bonnie's voice greeting him as she came in. The two of them used to date back in high school and she knew they each still had a soft spot for one another and probably always would. She briefly wondered what her brother would make of Bonnie's news.

Traipsing down the stairs, she greeted her friend with a hug. "So glad you're the first one here. How are you feeling today?"

Bonnie looked to the kitchen and eyed Damon organizing platters of snacks. "Second, it looks like." She moved her gaze back to Elena knowingly. "Felt like complete crap this morning, but I'm fine now. Sure hope it lasts all evening!"

"Me, too." Elena led her into the living room, where Jeremy already had a drink poured for each of them. Bonnie flashed Elena a look when he handed a glass to her. Elena distracted her brother with a question about hooking up her iPod to the stereo and Bonnie quickly took her cup into the kitchen to switch out its contents.

Damon glanced at her when she walked in, rapidly flipping his gaze from her face to her midsection and back again. "Hey, Witchy," he greeted her with a wink and a smile.

Bonnie tilted her head at him and sighed. "She told you? Please don't say anything before I tell everyone, okay?"

"Why would I?" Damon countered and pushed past her to bring a tray of tortilla chips and fresh guacamole into the living room. Just then the doorbell rang again. Bonnie took the opportunity the distraction provided to pour the alcoholic drink down the sink and top up her glass with orange juice from the fridge.

Caroline and Tyler stepped into the kitchen and Matt appeared right at their heels. Bonnie greeted the blonde with a hug and gave the boys each a smile.

"Elena and the others are in the living room." Bonnie picked up her glass from the countertop and led the way.

After the initial greetings, Jeremy began getting drinks for everyone and Damon disappeared back into the kitchen. Bonnie leaned over to whisper into Elena's ear, "Is that everyone? Or is Ric coming? Or Meredith?"

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know if you'd want the 'older generation' here tonight. I didn't invite them." Elena looked concerned. "Was I supposed to?"

"I'm sure your _much older_ boyfriend would have liked to have Ric here." Bonnie smiled. "Don't worry, it's no big deal. You're right, it might be easier this way." She gave Elena's shoulder a quick squeeze.

"Do you think I should just tell them now? Or wait for a bit?"

"Tell us what?" Caroline suddenly appeared right in front of the two girls.

Bonnie flushed. "I don't know why I still forget you have super-power hearing. You'd think I'd be used to it after all these years."

She stood up and cleared her throat loudly. "Everyone, I'd like to thank Elena and Jeremy for having us over tonight."

They all looked at her; the boys seemed perplexed by her interruption. Elena noticed Bonnie's blush creep over her face again. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Damon step into the doorway to the kitchen and lean against the frame with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Since you're all here, I actually have an announcement I'd like to make," Bonnie began. Elena couldn't imagine how difficult it must be to have to tell all her friends her surprising news. Especially in front of Jeremy. Her brother was currently looking at Bonnie curiously. Elena smiled as she reflected on the days when Bonnie had, perhaps childishly, hoped for a future with him when she grew up.

Bonnie gulped. "So…there's no easy way to do this so I 'm just gonna say it. I'm pregnant. I wanted to tell all of you at once"

Silence descended over the room for a few seconds.

Then Caroline squealed and launched herself at Bonnie, encompassing her in a gigantic hug. Bonnie stared at Elena, wide-eyed, over her shoulder, then broke into a smile and hugged her friend back.

Caroline peppered Bonnie with questions while the boys just looked at one another uncomfortably. They obviously had no idea how to react to this surprising news. Elena walked over to where Damon stood and put her hand on his upper arm. He looked down at her and raised one brow expectantly.

"Could you do me a favour? There are two books I picked up for Bonnie up in my room on my dresser. Could you go grab them for me, please?"

He gave her a nod and quickly slipped up the stairs, grateful for the brief escape. He wasn't really one for big cuddly announcements or feel-good occasions. Moments like this often made him feel like an outsider looking in, no matter how well he pretended otherwise. And something baby-related? Well, that just made him uneasy. That was one subject he knew very little about. Ever so vaguely he remembered when Stefan was a baby, but that was a really long time ago and in those days an older male child wasn't allowed to spend much time with a baby sibling. Damon only had the foggiest memories of holding his brother when he was an infant. He did, however, remember getting scolded by his father for not being careful enough or gentle enough with Stefan. After that he'd been nervous to get too close to the baby until he was bigger.

He walked into Elena's room and easily found one baby book on top of her dresser. But she'd said there were two – where was the other one? A quick scan of her room located a thick volume on her nightstand. Damon walked over and looked down at it. The book was called "What To Expect When You're Expecting". _Hmm, clever._ He rolled his eyes and grabbed it. When he picked it up, a bookmark fluttered out from it to the floor. He stared down at it curiously. Elena had been reading this? A pregnancy book?

Probably just so she would have an idea of what Bonnie would be going through. He was sure that was likely the reason why. But a deep gnawing voice in the back of his mind told him that this was very dangerous territory. If Elena was thinking about babies, even if they were other people's babies, it would invariably lead to her thinking about her own potential for motherhood someday. Which, in turn, would lead to her fast realizing that staying with him would put a great big kibosh on that.

Damon sat down heavily on the edge of her mattress and dropped both books onto the bedspread beside him. He closed his eyes and squeezed his fists into tight balls by his sides. _Fuck_. A part of him always knew this would come up at some point. He'd even tried to discuss it with her once years ago, but she'd just brushed off his concerns. No matter how much she loved him, it would never be fair of him to ask her to give up the chance to have her own children. If she did, she would only grow to resent him for it some day and it would end up tearing them apart. It was the fly in the ointment that couldn't ever be removed. If she stayed with him, he could never give her a child.

He heard footsteps on the stairs and looked up as Elena stepped into the doorway of her room.

"Wondered what was taking you so long." she said curiously. "You coming back down?'

Damon held her gaze for a pensive moment before picking up the books.

"Yep, let's go."

* * *

Much later, after everyone had gone home and everything was cleaned up and put away, Elena was surprised to see Damon reach for his jacket.

She frowned at him, "You're not staying?"

"Not tonight." He gave her a tight smile. His face was deliberately unexpressive.

"How come?"

"I…I have something I need to take care of." He dropped a quick kiss to her lips. "Talk to you later."

Before she even had a chance to reply, he was out the door.

Damon drove home at a speed that he knew would have given Elena a heart attack. He pulled the Camaro up in front of the boarding house a mere three minutes after leaving her place. Sitting in the driver's seat with his fingers clenched tightly on the steering wheel, he debated going for an extremely long, extremely fast drive all night long again.

But, no. He was too hungry and it could end up being dangerous to any random human that had the misfortune to cross his path with the state of mind he was in right now. He slammed the heavy car door shut and went inside the house.

The first thing he noticed was that there was a fire burning in the fireplace of the massive drawing room. Someone was here. His reflexes went on red-alert and he silently slipped into the large room.

Stefan was sitting in one of the leather wing chairs in front of the fire, a crystal tumbler of Damon's bourbon clutched in his fingers. He glanced over as he noticed his brother enter the room.

Standing up, they stared at each other for a moment.

Damon's features broke into a wide smile. "Welcome home, brother." He was genuinely pleased to see him. Even though they drove each other crazy more often than not, Stefan was still his only family. He might not ever admit it, but he had missed him.

"To what do I owe this visit?" Damon's eyes scanned around the room. "Is Katherine with you?"

Stefan gave him a tight grin in return. "No, she's not here." He shrugged and flopped back down into the chair. "It was time I came back."

"I was just about to get myself a drink of the…thicker…variety. Can I offer you one? I don't have any of the bunny stuff, though." Damon smirked, "If I'd known you were coming…"

His brother made a strange face. "No, thanks. I'm good."

Damon shrugged. "Suit yourself." He went into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of O-negative and warm it in the microwave. When he stepped back into the doorway of the drawing room, he paused after taking a large swallow. Something about Stefan seemed a bit different, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

He closed his eyes and listened. The crackling of the fire. The ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner. The soft thud of his brother setting his glass down on the heavy wooden table. The gentle thump of his heartbeat.

_Hold on_.

The shattering of ceramic on the hardwood as the mug of blood in Damon's hand crashed to the floor.

Stefan startled and turned to look at his brother who was staring at him, wide-eyed.

Damon's voice was incredulous, yet soft. "The fuck, Stef? You're alive?"

* * *

Elena lay in her bed staring up at the darkened ceiling. What had she been thinking earlier asking Damon to go grab the baby books? She'd forgotten that she'd been skimming through one of them and had left it on her nightstand until she'd discovered the discarded bookmark lying on the rug by her bed. So he'd obviously noticed she'd been reading a pregnancy book. No wonder he'd seemed extra tense from the moment she'd found him up here sitting immobile on her bed.

She'd been hoping not to need to have _that_ conversation with him for a very long time yet. Things had been going so much better between them lately. And it wasn't like she wanted to have kids any time soon. But she couldn't help it. Since finding out about Bonnie's pregnancy, going with her to the prenatal appointment and reading through a baby book or two, she'd naturally found herself thinking lately about what it would be like to have a child of her own one day. Ironically, she'd immediately pictured herself holding a sweet little dark-haired infant with huge blue eyes and long graceful black lashes. If only such a child was possible. There was no one she could imagine having babies with but him. Deep down inside she truly wished that she had the ability to give him a child. Though no one would believe her, Damon included, she knew that he'd make a wonderful, if overprotective, dad. But it was silly to even entertain these wistful thoughts. Elena shook her head and tried to force a laugh. Vampires can't make babies. She needed to forget about it. It was an impossible dream that they could ever have a real little family of their very own.

Elena knew she still had years yet to decide for certain if she could live without becoming a mom or not. This might be a valid reason to not accept his proposal right now, but so far she couldn't yet convince herself that it was enough of a reason to break up with him. Did one really need to equal the other? For all she knew she might not want kids for another ten years. So many things could change in ten years. Her relationship with Damon would either be much more solid or it could be a memory of the distant past by the time she was beyond her thirtieth birthday. She might even decide that she didn't want to have children after all. But she doubted it.

She suddenly recognized that it wasn't very fair of her to keep these thoughts from him. Ten years, twenty years - what was that to Damon? Like a week was to her? It was nothing. His feelings for her wouldn't change in ten years - probably not in her entire lifetime, should she be lucky enough to live to grow old. Why was it okay for her to justify delaying hurting him now, only to end up hurting him even more at some point in the future?

But – oh God – she couldn't stand the thought of destroying what they had, the thought of losing him from her life forever. Fair or not, she was in love with him and she wanted him beside her. There didn't seem to be any choice available to her that wouldn't rip out both their hearts.

Elena played out every scenario she could think of in her mind as she tossed and turned in her too-empty bed. She wrestled with her conscience until the first light of dawn began to slowly banish the darkness from her room. There had to be a way to make them work. There had to be. But so far she hadn't come up with anything plausible.

Sighing, she dragged herself out of bed, dressed, grabbed her purse and went out to her car. She had no idea what she wanted to say or do, but she knew she needed to see him.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Elena pulled her car up next to Damon's. The sun still sat low and bright orange on the horizon. The cool morning air had a light shimmer to it as the nighttime haze slowly burned away. She so rarely got to see this time of day, but when she was lucky enough to she always reflected on how beautiful Mystic Falls looked so early on a spring morning.

Taking a deep breath of fresh air to sharpen her up and clear her mind, she pulled open the front door and stepped into the dimly lit foyer of the boarding house.

"Damon?" she called. He usually appeared in front of her as soon as he heard her come in. She toed off her shoes, with every intention of going straight up to his room and slipping into bed beside him.

"He's still asleep, I think."

Elena looked up in shock as she realized Stefan was standing in the large open archway to the drawing room, leaning with one arm against the dark wooden frame. He gave her a wide smile.

She hadn't seen him in nearly four years. Damon had mentioned he'd dropped by for a brief visit a while back, but she'd been in Richmond at the time. She'd had no contact from him at all since he'd left with Katherine. She stood rigid in place and stared at him, open-mouthed for longer than was probably socially acceptable.

Then all at once her feet seemed to move of their own accord. She ran to him and flung her arms around him. As his hands came up around her back, over his shoulder she noticed Damon standing on the landing above taking in their reunion.

"Aw, isn't that sweet? A nice _warm_ hug between the ex-lovers," he drawled when he met her eyes. Damon slowly came down the steps toward them.

Elena stepped back from Stefan and look up at him in confusion as he approached. His tone was dripping with sarcasm and she could tell his shield of indifference had definitely been pulled back into place. Was he jealous of her hugging his brother? After all this time she refused to believe that could be it. What was going on?

She furrowed her brows, but decided to ignore his strange attitude just for the moment. She turned back to Stefan. "When did you get back?"

Stefan glanced warily at his brother. Damon had been reluctant to discuss his relationship with Elena last night and he hadn't pushed it. Something was clearly off, though. He looked back at Elena. "Last night."

"You didn't let us know you were planning a visit." She smiled warmly at him.

Damon cut in before Stefan could reply. "Nope. He wanted to surprise us. And surprise us he did – didn't you, Stef?"

He began to walk toward the kitchen, then stopped and turned back. "Can I get you something to drink? Elena? Cup of coffee? Stefan? Mug of O-Negative? Oh, no…that's right - you won't be wanting that. Coffee all around then." Trademark smirk firmly in place, he twirled one finger in the air to the side of his head as he left the room.

Elena frowned. "What's going on with you two?" she asked Stefan.

"Come sit down, Elena. I need to tell you something."


	6. Let Me In

**A/N** _Thank you so much for all your kind words, thoughts, opinions and ideas. You all help to cheer me up, big-time. While my faith in ever having a true D/E HEA on the tv show is now pretty much shot, I can still find some solace in the world of fiction and I hope my stories in some way bring you happiness as well. So let's live in denial, shall we? It's a much more pleasant place to be. As always, please let me know what you think by clicking the review button at the bottom! You guys rock!_

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Let Me In**

Elena settled down onto the leather sofa directly across from the fireplace and looked expectantly at Stefan, who had taken one of the wing chairs adjacent.

Stefan waited until Damon came backing carrying two steaming mugs of coffee, which he carefully sat down on coasters by he and Elena. When Damon made to leave the room, his brother called him back.

"Damon, please stay. I'd rather tell this story to both of you at once. If you don't mind."

Damon stopped and turned towards them. He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but then snapped it shut again. Elena slid over on the couch to make room beside her, but he plopped down into the other wing chair.

"Fine," he gritted through a half smirk. "Tell us your tale."

Elena narrowed her eyes at Damon. Why was he being so antagonistic? What did he know that she didn't? And why was he keeping her at arms length? Was it just about her reading that book? Was it because Stefan was here? She'd thought they were well beyond _that_ by now.

What the hell was going on?

Stefan cleared his throat and began to softly speak. "Someone that Katherine screwed over a very long time ago had been trailing us. We'd known about it for several years and had always managed to stay two steps ahead of them. It'd never really become too much of a concern. She has very good contacts and trackers working for her and they've always kept us in the loop. We left Europe last fall for Australia to put more distance between us and the problem." He paused and ran his fingers through his hair.

"About a month ago, I was walking along on the beach one night and I guess I wasn't paying enough attention. I was jumped by a group of very old, very big vamps. They injected me with vervain I assume. When I came around I was bound to a tree and Katherine was in front of me. She was struggling and swearing, but held in place by a huge vampire. Everything happened really fast, but Katherine tells me that I was staked."

Elena took a sip of her hot coffee and looked at him questioningly.

"In the heart." Pause. "I died." He stopped to give her a moment to let that sink in.

Elena drew in a sharp inhalation. "I … I don't understand, Stefan. You died? Yet here you are." She looked to Damon to gauge his reaction, but he was still maintaining that expressionless mask. Only his eyes gave away a slight flicker of something. Concern? Curiosity? She wasn't sure. His gaze was fixed on his brother; not once did he glance her way.

Stefan continued, "All I know about what happened after is what Katherine has told me. She keeps a few witches on her payroll, too. She made some quick calls and they hooked her up with a powerful warlock in Sydney, which wasn't far from us. She loaded my body into our truck and took me to him.

I don't know what he did, what spells or ingredients he used, and neither does she. She told me she was … distraught. Katherine is not particularly easy to be around when she's freaking out. I imagine the poor guy was working under threat of torture and slow death. Whatever he did to me though, it worked. It brought me back."

He held Elena's gaze. "Only … it brought me back different."

Elena lifted her eyebrows. "How so?"

"Yes, Stefan. Tell her how so," Damon drawled again. Elena shot him an irritated look. For the life of her she couldn't figure out why he was being like this. Wasn't he pleased that Stefan was back? Relieved that his brother wasn't dead-for-good?

Stefan leaned forward and lifted Elena's hand from the top of the armrest. He brought it up to his neck and pressed her fingers into the skin.

She frowned, wondering why he'd done that. Then realization suddenly dawned as to what she was feeling. A pulse! She was feeling the throbbing of an actual pulse! Quickly she put her other hand against his chest. She could sense the gentle pounding of his heartbeat under her fingers.

Elena gasped loudly. "Oh my God." she whispered. In a flash she pulled back both hands as though touching him had burned her fingers. With her mouth hanging open in shock she just stared at Stefan.

"Give the girl a kewpie doll. She's figured it out." Damon said dryly. He stood up and strode out of the room without looking back.

* * *

Damon couldn't stand being in the same room as the two of them for a second longer. He felt like his brain might implode with frustration. It seemed like everything he'd built with Elena over the past four years was about to go up in smoke and there wasn't a goddamn thing he could do about it. Or should do about it. The "should" was the worst part. Everything in him was screaming to not let her go, to not give up without a fight. But he now knew for certain that letting her go was the only right thing he _could_ do. He wasn't the man she needed to spend the rest of her life with. He could never be that man.

Right now it seemed like God was laughing in his face again. Damon had always secretly missed his humanity. He'd never _really_ wanted to become a vampire; he'd only wanted to be with Katherine. When he'd thought she'd died, he'd chosen to die, too, rather than complete the transition. Until Stefan had forced it on him. As it turned out, the women he'd loved so much had screwed him over and left him alone. And he'd assumed he'd be alone forever. He'd continued to assume that until the day that Elena had finally succeeded in convincing him that she actually loved him and not his brother. She had made him believe that he was finally worthy of being chosen.

And now, now when things between them were at their most tenuous, when he'd just come to the agonizing realization that he could never be the man to give her what she wanted – who should show up with the newfound ability to be that man for her? _Who, indeed_. He snorted out loud. _Stefan, of course._ It would always be Stefan. If he wasn't feeling so fucking bitter right now, he'd probably laugh at the sheer irony of it all.

Damon had to wonder about Katherine though. Why would she let now-human Stefan return to Mystic Falls if there was any potential chance of him rekindling his relationship with Elena? She was too smart - she would never risk it. Katherine had been in love with Stefan, much as he hated to admit it, for as long as they both had known her. Sure, she'd loved to play her little games with the both of them, but when it came right down to it, it had always been Stefan for her. She wouldn't just let him walk away from her and live out the rest of his now expiry-dated life with another woman. He was frankly surprised she hadn't immediately re-vamped him. It didn't make sense.

Damon sighed. Much as it was distasteful, he knew what his next move had to be.

He needed to speak with Katherine and find out what was really going on.

* * *

Elena knew she should probably go after Damon and find out what his problem was. But she couldn't stop staring at Stefan. Her eyes scanned over his features, trying to discern all that was different about him now. If she listened closely she could detect the faint ebb and flow of his breathing. He seemed to have a bit more colour in his cheeks. He coughed. He definitely fidgeted far more. Of course some of that was probably due to the fact that she was clearly making him uncomfortable by examining him so closely.

"Elena…" he started.

"Umm hmm?" She was still in a bit of a state of shock.

"Elena!"

"Yes! Sorry." She dragged her eyes back up to his and flushed when she realized what she'd been doing.

"I didn't come back here to disrupt your life. I know you're with Damon now." Stefan tilted his head slightly at her as if waiting for her to confirm the truth of it.

A look of anxiety flashed across her eyes for a split second. "Yes. I am," she said quickly. Then she spoke more decisively, "Speaking of which, I should really go see what's biting his ass this morning."

Stefan laughed. He couldn't help thinking how beautiful she was still. Elena had changed a lot since he'd seen her last, but her Petrova spark shone brighter than ever.

She got up and headed up the stairs in the direction of Damon's room. Stefan watched her walk away and his thoughts drifted to Katherine. He wondered if she'd remained in Australia. Would she follow him back to Virginia? There was a part of him that was still hoping she would, even now.

He picked up his car keys and phone and went outside for a walk. The last place he wanted to be was in the boarding house while Elena was in his brother's bedroom.

* * *

Elena knocked softly on the door to Damon's room, just as a courtesy, before immediately stepping inside. She found him sitting on the edge of his bed leaning back on his hands, clearly waiting for her.

"Hey," she breathed as she went over to sit beside him. She reached out to pull one of his hands into hers, forcing him to change position to face her. "What's up with you this morning?" She wanted to ask so much more but decided to wait and see how he replied.

His eyes bored into her own, a complex tapestry of emotions flying through them faster than she could ever hope to analyze. He started to speak, then stopped himself and scrubbed his other hand over his face and through his hair, effectively breaking their eye contact.

"What, Damon?" She began to trace circles on the back of his hand, waiting until he was ready to talk.

Finally he sighed. "I really don't want to get into this right now. I have some calls I need to make. Can we talk about it later?" He didn't pull his hand out from hers though.

Elena frowned. "You're not happy he's back?"

He shook his head. "It's not that."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What, then?"

Damon just looked at her. He didn't want to talk – talking would just make things worse. Even thought he knew it was inevitable, he really wasn't prepared to talk to her right now about what needed discussing. Because when they did, it would likely mean the end for them, or at the very least the beginning of the end. And there was still one thing he needed to check into first.

But he knew Elena well enough to know that she wasn't about to let this go. She could be as stubborn as a pit-bull sometimes. He had no idea if he'd ever be lucky enough to be with her again and he selfishly wanted one last good memory of them, together, to hold onto later.

"Drop it, Elena. Please." His voice grew bit more forceful.

Now she was getting visibly frustrated. Damon could see the fire start to smolder to life within her. For some twisted reason he often liked to poke at the embers until they were blazing. She was so easy to rile up. Plus, he knew now he could succeed in distracting her from talking – and he was very confident in his ability to do so.

"Damon," she said sternly, "tell me what's going on!" Her volume was beginning to rise along with her agitation.

He grabbed her firmly by both shoulders and tried to make his expression as stony as possible. "I said. Drop. It." Decibels were increasing. He briefly wondered if Stefan had overheard them yet. Even with normal human hearing, if he hadn't picked up on their voices so far, it wouldn't be long before he would. Then he grinned internally as he detected the soft thump of the front door being closed behind his brother. _Perfect_.

Elena was becoming well and truly pissed off. She reached up, grabbed onto his wrists and tried to forcibly remove his hands from her shoulders. "Damon! Let go of me! What the hell is your problem today?"

Just for a moment - for a split second - he thought maybe he'd gone too far. Then his inner demon said, "fuck it." He moved his hands from her shoulders to the sides of her face, dragged her head towards his and kissed her. Hard.

She struggled and tried to pull back but he refused to let go. He forced her lips apart and drove his tongue into her mouth as his fingers slid back and tangled in her long brown hair. If his gamble was wrong he knew he was risking a painful bite.

But it wasn't.

Elena tried to resist him, she really did. She wasn't stupid. She knew exactly what game he was playing and she knew she was the one being played right now. But she suddenly realized that at the moment not talking seemed infinitely preferable to talking. And the things he was doing to her mouth with his tongue … well, she found she could focus on little else. Any will to fight him flew right out the window.

So, all at once, Elena surrendered. She began to kiss him back with such ferocity that he was genuinely surprised. And infinitely pleased. Her fingers fisted in his thick hair and pulled his lips even more tightly against hers. She so passionately devoured his mouth that at last she had to break their connection to gasp for air.

Damon took the opportunity to begin trailing kisses down her jaw, across her neck and kept going until he reached her cleavage. Her chest heaved below his lips as she struggled to even her breathing.

"I hate when you do that," she mumbled.

"Really?" He raised his face back up level with hers. "Cause I could have sworn that you love when I do that." He smirked at her and widened his eyes slightly.

Elena couldn't help it; she giggled. She also gave him a light smack on the shoulder. "Fine, Damon. You win. For now."

She was about to say something else, but before she could get the words out his lips captured hers once more and she was again distracted. She trailed her fingers down his neck to the buttons of his shirt and started to rapidly loosen them. Pulling each side open, she dragged her fingernails up the smooth hard surface of his chest and tugged the offending garment down off his shoulders.

Damon growled low and sexy against her mouth when he felt her scrape her nails over his now bare skin. When she pulled off his shirt, he immediately went to work freeing them both from the remainder of their clothing. Before long he had her pinned naked to the bed beneath him - just the way he liked her best.

Deep down they were both feeling tumultuous and vulnerable and all they really wanted right now was each other. Sheer desire and passion overtook any need for gentleness. Damon's hands and lips roamed her body restlessly and relentlessly, never slowing down for very long in any one place. He was drinking in her texture, her scent, her taste as desperately and greedily as a parched man would a much-needed glass of water. As if he knew this could be his last chance to memorize everything about her.

Elena was demanding and equally impatient in her own movements. She grabbed him by the hair and hauled his face up her body and back to her mouth, where her lips and tongue again attacked his. With one hand she reached down to guide him between her thighs where she wanted – where she needed - him most right now.

There was no attempt at foreplay; they simply couldn't wait any longer to be joined together as intimately as they could be. He pulled her hand away and, interlacing his fingers through hers, he smoothly entered her with one swift forward push of his hips. She groaned into his mouth as they both began to move in concert with one another.

Damon gasped against her lips. This time his strokes were not particularly gentle to begin with and they quickly began to pick up intensity. Elena shifted and began to firmly thrust her hips up to meet his rhythm. She released his fingers and blindly stretched both hands behind her to hold onto the headboard for resistance against his passionate onslaught. Oh, the things he was doing to her, the things only he could make her feel! Her heels dug tightly into the flesh at the back of his thighs.

Suddenly he tore his mouth from hers and she dizzily felt her body being lifted and spun through the air at vamp speed. Her back slammed into a wall, but thankfully he cushioned the impact with one hand. Supporting her with an arm under her behind, he moaned as she tightened her legs around his waist. Again he started to drive into her, hard, over and over and she wondered briefly if she'd be able to walk tomorrow. She didn't care; right now she wanted everything he had to give her. Groaning loudly, Elena scraped her nails up his back to tangle her fingers into his soft hair once more. As it always did, his mouth found its way back to hers.

She felt his fingertips ghost up her arm to her neck and back behind her ear as he swept her long hair off her shoulder. His lips fell to the pulse throbbing below her skin at her carotid artery and kissed her softly in that most sensitive spot. And she knew. She knew a split second before he did it just what he was going to do. Even though he'd never once bitten her during sex before without her offering, and never on the neck, she knew that this time he would. This time felt different. _Was_ different.

With a soft moan, Damon's fangs penetrated her throat. She cried out, but more from anticipation of pain rather than pain itself. Elena had never had a vampire drink from her neck during lovemaking before. She'd assumed it would be agonizing, much like the other times she'd been bitten. But, surprisingly, it wasn't. It didn't hurt, not any more than a slight sting when he first broke her skin. And as he began to drink she realized that this was completely about pleasure - a pure, unadulterated, intense wave of pleasure. Her eyes squeezed shut and her mouth fell open with a gasp. She had no idea why she'd been denying herself this for so long.

Then something happened that neither one of them could ever predict or would ever expect. Something primal deep down inside her rose up and took a hold of Elena. She didn't fight it - she just let it guide her.

At the same time as he was pounding ruthlessly into her, shaking her entire body; at the same time as he was pulling mouthfuls of blood from her throat, she bent her head down to his own neck. Her tongue darted out and licked a spot below his left ear and she felt the vibrations of his groan against her skin. She grazed over the same spot with her blunt teeth, once, twice. Then she suddenly bit down firmly into him. She heard Damon's groan morph into a short, feral roar, but she wasn't the least bit frightened. His thick, hot blood filled her mouth and, as she began to swallow it down, something – _everything_ – changed.

Elena's eyes flew wide open. She took one last mouthful, then pulled her face away from his neck and loudly gasped. _What the hell is going on?_ It was like a switch had turned on in her mind and she could see, really see, clearly for the first time in her entire life. But the word 'see' wasn't quite right. Nor was 'feel' or 'sense' or 'experience'. It was all of those things but so very much more. She could _know_. It was as if she and Damon were now opened up completely to one another.

She was nearly overwhelmed with emotions, sensations, feelings. Then, just to add to her sensory overload, she felt her orgasm begin to roll over her. And Holy Mother of God it was a powerful one! More intense pleasure than she'd ever felt before completely enveloped her and she couldn't hold back her shriek of complete submission to it. Damon stopped moving and exclaimed her name loudly at the same moment before slamming himself roughly into her again as he found his own release. She was dimly aware of him lifting her up and dropping them both to the floor so that she was below him once more. If he hadn't, she probably would have collapsed in a heap.

He wrapped his arms snuggly around her lower back, pressed his face into her now-healed neck and held her still in his embrace. She could barely catch her breath and her heart jack-hammered loudly against the inside of her ribcage. Elena found herself completely encompassed with such a powerful, intense love, and yet below that she could also detect undercurrents of worry and fear and despair. She flashed back to that bizarre dream she'd had where she'd cried his tears along with him in the middle of his bathroom floor. And, even though she had her own reasons to harbour concerns about their future, she suddenly understood exactly what was flowing through her right now.

_Oh my God, _she thought.

"Damon," she exclaimed. "What just happened?"

He raised his head to look at her. His eyes looked glazed over. _The most mind-blowing sex of my entire life, that's what._

Hesitating for a second, he whispered, "You bit me." He blinked and focused on her face more clearly. He badly wanted to lean down and lick off the slight traces of his blood that remained at the corners of her mouth.

She stared at him as she ran her tongue over her lips self-consciously. "You just thought, 'The most mind-blowing sex of my life', didn't you?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. _How the fuck did you know that?_

"How did you know that?"

"Oh my God." Elena put her hands on both of his shoulders and pushed him off of her and onto his side. She shifted so she was facing him.

_Yeah, you just said that. Blew your mind, too, huh?_

"Damon! Look at me. Don't say anything - just listen, ok?" She looked directly into his fathomless blue eyes. _Can you hear me?_

"Of course." _Wait._

She gave him a moment.

_Holy fuck._

"Holy fuck," he breathed. _Can you hear me, too?_

Elena nodded.

Damon's eyes grew wide. "How?" he whispered. _What did we do?_

"I have no idea. But, if I had to guess, I'd say it had something to do with the blood."

"You bit me," he said again, voice still clouded with disbelief. _I bit you, too. _

"I know. I don't know why. I'm sorry," she said quietly.

Damon stood up suddenly, and picked her up bridal-style to place her back on his bed. Without thinking about it, she slipped below the covers. He slid in beside her and turned to face her once more.

"Don't be sorry." He reached over to stroke her cheek. _It was fucking amazing. _

Elena gave him a small smile and covered his fingers with her own. _For me, too._

"Really?"

"Really." She laughed a little, then leaned in and kissed him sweetly for a moment. _God_, _I love you._

Damon's face broke out into huge, genuine smile as he pulled her body against his. His blue eyes sparkled and she felt the intensity of his happiness shoot through her. For the first time in a long time there were no walls between them. Emotions were laid bare. They were no longer hiding from each other.

He focused his gaze on her incredible soft brown eyes. _ I love you, too. Always._


	7. Second Guessing

**A/N** I loved hearing your reactions to Chapter 6 - thanks so much guys - you really made my week. I'm so very happy you liked the 'new development'. Your reviews, thoughts and opinions inspire me and help to improve my writing. Please keep 'em coming if you can! Thanks to morvamp for pre-reading this one for me - go read her stories - she's awesome! Hope you all like Chapter 7. Please click on the review button at the bottom once you've finished reading and let me know what you think. Thank you!

* * *

**Chapter 7 – Second Guessing**

Damon looked down at the sleeping girl beside him. His face was wide open and honest now that no one was watching, and the depth of his love for her played over it like shadows dancing across hot pavement on a bright summer's day. He gently traced the contours of the side of her face with the tips of his fingers. Then he carefully slipped out of bed, pulled on some pajama bottoms, grabbed his phone and quietly left the room.

Before he spent any extended period of time thinking about and/or discussing what had just changed between them, he really needed to speak with Katherine.

After making sure Stefan wasn't wandering about the large house somewhere, he made his way silently down to the empty kitchen to give her a call.

She picked up on the first ring.

"Damon. I've been expecting you. What took you so long?"

"Katherine." Just hearing the intonation of her voice instantly put him on edge and made him grit his teeth. "And why exactly were you expecting my call?"

She ignored him. "I assume Stefan arrived safely. Does he know you're calling me?"

"No," Damon spat out. "Of course not."

"So, get on with it. Tell me what you want." She sounded bored. He could just picture her studying her fingernails disinterestedly as she spoke.

He rolled his eyes. "I want to know why, Katherine. Why did you let him come back here?"

"Trouble in paradise, Damon?"

He sighed deeply. God, he hated talking to her. Nothing was ever easy. He forced himself to rein in his incredible urge to tell her to shove it and end the call.

"I could ask you the same. You got some backwoods witch doctor to save his life. Fine. Great. And then by … what? By _mistake_ he comes back human? And you _leave_ him human? And then you just let him waltz the fuck on back to Mystic Falls and potentially to Elena? Nope. I'm not buying it, Katherine. What's going on? Why didn't you immediately revamp him and the two of you continue on your merry way?"

Katherine didn't say anything for a few moments, which in and of itself was telling.

Finally she huffed out a short sigh of exasperation and spoke quietly. "He wanted to. I let him go home because it was what he wanted. If I'd tried to stop him he would have resented me for it forever."

Damon laughed. "Do you really expect me to believe that you did something selfless for once in your life?"

"Believe what you want, Damon. I'm hanging up now."

He spoke quickly, "Wait, Katherine." Pause. "There might be something you can do for me that would be mutually beneficial to us both right now."

Damon could nearly hear the sly grin that stretched her face at his words. "And there it is. You've got one more minute. I'm listening."

* * *

_Pellets of rain are driving down in torrents, hard and unrelenting, but she feels neither cold nor wet. The ever-present rumble of thunder forms the soundtrack to her cascading thoughts and emotions._

_Elena is rapidly pushing her way through the forest, searching, honing in. She spares a glance down at herself and is unsurprised to find that she is naked – again - much like the last time she had a dream like this. She wonders in passing why the rough and stony forest floor doesn't hurt her bare feet and why the sharp branches slapping against her do not tear into her exposed flesh. Why she feels so nimble and does not slip or trip._

_She feels nervous, very nervous, but she has no idea what for. She thinks her heart would be beating a mile a minute, if she were human. What a minute – she is human! Why can't she feel her heart beating? _

_She shrugs it off; it's not important._

_What's important right now is that she find him and find him fast._

_It's not just that he's scared … now so much so that 'fucking terrified' might be a better way of describing it. But he's also being very, very foolish. He's taking a huge chance. And he's doing it all for her. And she knows she needs to stop him. Because this might not work. There's no guarantee. _

_And she can't let him take that kind of a risk for her. She won't._

_She begins to run just as fast as her legs can carry her. Which, as it turns out, is incredibly fast. Though the ground below her is rapidly turning into sticky mud, tree trunks and bushes blur past her peripheral vision as she flies along. And "flies" feels like an accurate descriptor – it's hard to believe her feet are even touching the squelching forest floor at all._

_She hears their voices before she finds them. Damon's. Her own. Which she instantly realizes has to be Katherine. The deep low rumble of a strange man's voice startles her for a moment._

_In what feels like only a split second, she is standing on the edge of a wide clearing beside a churning white-capped river. The water cascading over the falls is roaring, but the volume of the raging storm is nearly drowning it out. This clearing, although different, brings back a sharp reminder of the place where he proposed to her last week. Or was it a few months ago? Time feels so distorted in her mind._

_Through the heavy rain, Elena sees Damon on the ground clutching his head within a circle of fire. It's eerily reminiscent of the one she was trapped in so many years ago, as her aunt Jenna was brutally murdered by Klaus right before her eyes. _

_But Klaus is not here. Klaus is dead, or the next best thing to dead._

_Katherine is standing outside the burning circle looking down at Damon. Why is the downpour not extinguishing the flames? A strange, tiny, dark-skinned man is chanting beside her. She steps over the flames to Damon and pushes him onto his back. Reaching inside her jacket, she pulls out what can only be a wooden stake._

_Elena's fury at the sight unfolding in front of her violently boils to the surface and she feels something hot and tickly and weird happening to the skin around her eyes. Then her eyes themselves grow hot. Her gums begin to ache and then pinch sharply as she feels her canine teeth extend. _

_What the hell is going on? She knows she's not a vampire, so why is this happening to her?_

_Elena rushes down the rocky incline towards them. An incredible desire to tear them away from him overwhelms her. She craves to render flesh, snap bone like twigs - she wants to rip them to pieces. She needs to stop whatever they're doing to Damon before it's too late._

_A sudden deafening clap of thunder makes the earth shake below her feet and stops her in her tracks. The brilliant flash of lightning that accompanies it blinds her for a moment. She hears a large tree, or several, crash down nearby. _

_Then Damon shrieks and her world goes black._

* * *

Elena popped her eyes open and without looking immediately reached across the bed for him, but discovered the other side cold and empty. She felt a brief flare of panic, a residual emotion from her dream no doubt, before she realized she could hear the drumming of the shower in the adjacent bathroom. As she focused on Damon's presence she thought just for a second she caught a reflection of her own momentary alarm. It was quickly stifled by worry for her.

The running water clicked off. Thirty seconds later Damon strode into his bedroom wearing nothing but a thick white towel draped low across his hips. A few elusive water droplets sparkled in the sunlight here and there across his tightly toned chest.

She couldn't help it; her breath still caught in her throat at the sight of him like this.

Damon examined her carefully for a moment, then, seeing nothing that seemed distressing, started to move toward his huge wardrobe. He paused and turned back to her again, suddenly comprehending that she was appreciating the view he was providing. His lips curled into a tight smirk as he dropped the towel to the hardwood floor. "Like what you see, Elena?"

She grinned back at him. "You know it."

"I do." He sat down on the bed beside her and held her gaze. _Want another go round?_

She tilted her head toward him and her face grew puzzled. It was obvious she was focusing.

Finally she sighed. "It's not working anymore. I wonder why?"

Damon frowned. He slid over so that he was right beside her, pressed one hand along the side of her face and looked deeply into her dark eyes. _You can't hear me now?_

Elena stared back at him with equal intensity. Finally she pulled away from his hand and shook her head. "I'm getting nothing. It's gone." She blew out a quick breath. "Weird."

This wasn't exactly the complete truth. There _was_ something. Maybe she could no longer pick up his exact thoughts, but she could still sense his general mood. At least she thought she could. The trick seemed to be in learning how to differentiate it from her own emotions - identifying which feelings were actually hers and which were his. Right now she was picking up several things, lust obviously being right at the top of the list. And disappointment – probably because he thought their mental connection was now severed. Confusion. Something low and nearly buried that she could barely identify. Was it … a flicker of hope? Last, but not least by a long shot, was worry. Always worry. She carried enough of that herself to have to question whose emotion it was that she was sensing. It didn't take her long to decide it was definitely the co-mingled feelings of both of them. That seemed to be the biggest problem with this "connection". If she wasn't already experiencing the same emotions, she suddenly found herself feeling them when she detected them from Damon. It made everything open and shared. Which may not always be a good thing.

So the question was – did she tell him they were still linked? Or did she wait to see if it lasted first? Maybe in a couple of hours that would be gone as well. She really needed to find out what was going on and if the mutual blood-sharing had actually been the catalyst for this new development, as she suspected it was.

Damon was still concentrating on her face as all these thoughts danced around in her mind. He angled his head to one side and a perplexed expression crossed his features.

"It's not, though," he said, voice tinged with wonder.

"Not what? Weird?" Elena flashed him a smile. "You're kidding, right?"

"Not gone. Not totally, anyway."

Elena's breath caught in her throat. "What do you mean?" She wanted to see how he would reply, to know if he was experiencing the same thing as she was.

He frowned and flopped his head down hard onto one fluffy white pillow, staring up at the empty ceiling as if it might hold all the answers. "I can still sense you in my mind, just not your actual thoughts any more. More like your … emotions, I guess. I'm not a hundred per cent sure what I'm sensing, to be honest. Maybe it's just my own feelings. Maybe it's just wishful thinking."

Elena regarded him silently for a long minute.

"It's not wishful thinking, Damon. You're right – and I can feel it, too," she whispered.

She settled down beside him on the pillow and turned to rest one palm against his firm chest. "So what does all this mean? Why could we read each other's minds this morning … after …" Elena trailed off, not sure how best to complete that sentence.

"After?" Damon laughed and rolled onto his side so that he could look her in the eyes. "After you _bit_ me? I'd love to know what possessed you at _that_ moment. You shocked the hell outta me." He reached over and tucked an escaped lock of chestnut hair behind her right ear.

"I don't know. I just … something came over me. And I just went with it," she stammered, blushing. Unconsciously her fingertips traced patterns along the bare skin of his lower back.

Damon smirked at her. "You should let yourself go more often then. It was amazing." He paused for a moment and his voice got softer. "But I know what you mean. Something came over me, too. I'm really sorry, Elena. I shouldn't haven bitten you without asking. Especially on the neck."

Reaching over, he lightly grazed his fingers over the spot where his teeth had punctured her skin. "At least you having my blood healed it right up," he mused softly, almost to himself, as he gazed at her neck.

"It's okay. I knew you were about to do it and I would have protested if I didn't want you to." She grasped his hand and threaded her fingers through his.

His eyes glanced back up to meet hers. "Really?" He could feel the strength of her love in that moment and it gave him even more determination to find a solution to all of their issues. Especially the unspoken issues.

"Really."

He leaned in to press his lips against her immediately receptive ones.

* * *

Elena pushed an escaped strand of sweaty hair behind her ear with a large sigh.

She'd been sitting on the floor at the end of her bed, painstakingly sorting through boxes for hours now. Her head was beginning to pound from trying to decipher all the squiggly and sometimes faded handwriting in the old journals, letters and copious notes. She was grimy, overheated, nearing exhaustion and pretty much ready to give up for the day. It was almost suppertime but her bed was calling out to her far louder than her stomach was.

She knew that she should just give in and ask for help with her research. But … it was such a personal thing that had happened between she and Damon that morning and she wasn't really ready to share it with anyone else just yet. Her highest priority right now was to find out what was going on - if there was any precedent for the bond they'd somehow opened.

So she'd come straight back home after lunch to dig out Alaric's old boxes of her birth-mother Isobel's extensive vampire and supernatural research. About five years ago Ric had brought it all back to the Gilbert house from where it had been sitting in storage at Duke University. It hadn't taken Elena very long to locate all the dusty and cobweb-covered boxes stacked in one darkened corner of her basement. She'd slowly hauled every last dingy carton up the two flights of stairs to her bedroom, carefully piling each against one wall, and began the arduous process of investigating them.

She wasn't even a third of the way through the contents of the boxes yet. Isobel's notes were thorough and the plethora of information Elena found was fascinating. Four hours had flown by like four minutes. The buzzing of her cell phone startled her out of her concentration and when she glanced at the alarm clock on her night-table she was surprised to note that it was now past 6:00 in the evening.

She sighed and stood up, taking a moment for a languid stretch before locating her phone on her dresser.

It was a text from Damon. _Can I come over?_

Elena smiled to herself. At this point she really could use all the help she could get. To be honest, though, she could also really use a nap. And a shower. She quickly texted him back an affirmative reply and made her way to the bathroom to get cleaned up, at least temporarily.

When she stepped back into her room again, the first place her eyes fell was on her fluffy floral-patterned pillow. She couldn't stifle the yawn that escaped her lips at the sight of it.

Quickly moving the dusty old books and stacks of notes off the end of her bed to the floor, she slipped with relief in between her soft cotton sheets. _I'll just close my eyes for a few minutes. Just until Damon gets here. Then we'll start searching again. Together._

She mentally reached out for him, just to see if she could find him at this distance. What she discovered was definitely not merely a reflection of her own feelings. She sensed annoyance and frustration, but below that a fierce determination and an intense love for her. A small grin graced her lips and as she drifted off to sleep she held tightly onto the enveloping sense of his unwavering love.

* * *

Damon found his brother in the library, quietly reading, or perhaps just pretending to read for his benefit. He headed straight for the drink cart in the corner and poured them each a fifth of bourbon. Handing the crystal tumbler to Stefan, he sat down on the edge of an overstuffed reading chair.

Stefan glanced up, held his gaze and waited.

Damon flashed his brother a small smirk. "So … what's it feel like?"

Stefan's brows shot up in surprise. That was definitely not what he'd been expecting Damon to ask. The look of confusion on his face was enough to give the older Salvatore a little chuckle.

Stefan briefly flashed a tight grin back at his big brother. "Honestly? It's taking some getting used to. I feel … a bit devolved, to tell you the truth. Slower. Weaker. Harder of hearing. I get tired way easier, my muscles ache, any injuries are slow to heal and my tolerance for alcohol is way down. I keep having to remind myself how vulnerable I am now. It's not as great as you probably remember it to be." He paused and thought for a moment. Then he smiled. "But I suspect I'll find some benefits to be had with it. If not, I can always re-vamp … if I don't die first."

Damon just stared at him. "So you hate it? Figures," he muttered, shaking his head a bit. The irony couldn't get any more blatant if it had walked up to him and smacked him upside the head. He decided to change the subject. This one was just pissing him off.

"Moving on. So tell me, dear brother, what have you been up to the past few years?"

Stefan was taken aback slightly by the sudden shift in conversation, but he knew this would probably be a less contentious topic to navigate.

Pausing to give his reply some thought, Stefan eventually began to tell his brother about his travels with Katherine. He recalled hanging out in a smoky, dimly lit pub sharing pints and conversation with a famous musician in Glasgow, exploring narrow stone alleyways of shops in London, strolling among oblivious tourists along the famous pier in Brighton. He described watching at a distance the painters perched along the Seine in Paris, who could, with a few strokes of their brushes across a blank canvas, create beauty that came alive before his eyes. He tried to explain the awestruck feeling that overwhelmed him when they first arrived in Florence and roamed the ancient city in the nighttime shadows, coming across stunning architecture and otherworldly beautiful edifices lit up around nearly every corner. He described Geneva and Vienna and Marbella and Morocco and Alexandria. The live music they had watched, the castles and museums, mausoleums and tombs they had explored, the beaches and parties and festivals they had enjoyed. He declined to mention the quiet moments – all the times when it was just he and Katherine sitting somewhere deserted, maybe silently examining the stars and holding hands and knowing they had forever to be together. The times when he felt like they were nearly, but not quite, a real normal human couple.

Damon took all of this in without comment, listening to his brother's tales of adventure. He couldn't help but envision what it would be like to experience all those things with Elena by his side.

After Stefan finished describing the absurdity of his futile tries – yes, plural – to learn to surf in eastern Australia, Damon finally chose to speak up again.

"Why, then, Stef? Why come back here?" He held his brother's gaze with intensity. "Why leave Katherine behind?"

All the amusement at the recalled memories fell from Stefan's face. Now Damon was finally asking the questions he'd been originally anticipating. He sighed and tried to formulate an acceptable reply.

"I had to," he whispered, shrugging. "I had to see you. I had to see her." He tore his eyes from Damon's penetrating stare.

"I don't know why. It was just something I knew I needed to do." At the moment this was all he could offer.

"Bullshit," Damon spat. "I know you, Stefan - probably better than anyone. I know exactly why you came back."

"Really? Do tell, brother." Stefan looked at his older sibling skeptically.

"You wanted to see if there was any chance now to live out the rest of your mortal life with Elena." Damon was blunt.

Stefan's face reddened. He fixated on an antique cuckoo clock on the mantel and said nothing for a long minute. Finally he spoke quietly, "I wanted to see if she was still human." Softer yet, "And if you two were still together."

"Of course you did," Damon sighed.

"I'm sorry. But I had to know. You would have done the same in my place. You know you would. It's _Elena_." Stefan still wouldn't look at his brother.

Damon scoffed, "Not if I was already with the woman I loved, I wouldn't. If I was in your place, and Katherine was the love of my life, I would have immediately asked her to re-vamp me. But you didn't. And instead of just calling me, you left her behind to come check up on us in person. That speaks volumes, brother. Volumes."

He paused for a moment and snorted a quick puff of air out of his nose. Running one hand over his eyes, he said, "You wanna know the most fucked up part of it? Your timing could _not_ have been more perfect."

Stefan finally turned to face him with a perplexed expression. "Why?"

Not bothering to reply, Damon just got up and left the room.

* * *

Stefan stared blankly at the empty doorway from which Damon had vanished. He had known his return would be difficult for his brother once he learned about his re-found mortality. He had long suspected that deep down Damon actually hated being a vampire and missed his own humanity. To now see his baby brother once again with something that he desired, while he was yet again denied, must sting like a bitch.

It wasn't that he was actively hoping that Damon and Elena would no longer be together. He certainly didn't wish that kind of pain on his brother. It was more that he just had to come see them both in person. To see for himself the state of how things really were back home these days. He hadn't been lying before when he'd told Damon he'd been curious to see if Elena was still human. She'd told him years ago that she didn't want to become a vampire, but he had always speculated in the back of his head that she might change her mind one day. He'd wondered if she would grow to love his brother enough to want to be with him for an eternity.

Stefan wanted Damon to be happy – he really did – but if after five years Elena was still in the same position on that subject as she'd been when he was dating her when she was seventeen, then he seriously doubted she was ever going to change her mind.

Which brought his thoughts back to himself again. He hadn't asked for his mortality back. To be completely honest, he hadn't been missing it any more, at least not for the four years that he'd spent with Katherine. She was a vampire; he was a vampire and everything was copasetic. And he did love her – whether he liked it or not he had loved her for over 150 years - that wasn't about to change any time soon. But now the two of them were no longer even the same species. He really didn't want to be a fragile teenage human with Katherine. She loved him, but she would hate that. She might not admit it at first, but he knew her well enough to know she would. She'd want to turn him again. He was amazed that she hadn't already tried to convince him to do it before he left.

But Stefan didn't want to be stuck in the body of a seventeen-year-old boy forever. He had done that long enough, thank you very much. Even though this change wasn't something he had sought out, he was quite pleased about the potential benefits of it.

When he'd told Katherine he was coming home, he'd expected more of a reaction from her. Lots of questions. Suspicion. Possibly jealousy. Insistence that she accompany him. But, surprisingly, he got none of those things. She accepted it calmly, almost expectantly. It was very out of character for her to be so relaxed about his leaving, especially now that he was alive again.

To be honest, he was slightly disappointed in her lack of reaction to his leaving. A part of him had hoped she'd tried to convince him to stay or demand that she come along. But she'd just wished him luck and let him go. She'd smiled at him as he'd walked out the door, but he'd noted that her smile hadn't reached her eyes.

Right now Stefan found himself thinking on what Damon had said about his leaving Katherine behind if he really loved her. He felt bad about it. He missed her. But he definitely wasn't ready to go back.

He was pretty sure he wanted to spend some time in Mystic Falls again.


	8. Talk About The Passion

_**A/N** Thank you for your reviews - they mean the world to me. I know I sound like a broken record at the beginning of each new chapter, but it's true. If you like my story, the very best present you can give me is by telling me what you think of it or why you like it or what you don't like - or anything, really. :) Special thanks to Morgan (morvamp) for betaing this for me. You're awesome, girl! _

* * *

**Chapter 8 – Talk About The Passion**

After he got no response to the doorbell in the early evening, Damon let himself into the foyer of the Gilbert house. He could detect her even breathing from upstairs and understood immediately that she was asleep, so he refrained from calling out as he climbed the steps. As usual, he noted the creak in the boards on steps four, seven and nine. He wondered idly if Elena and Jeremy knew from childhood to avoid placing their feet on those spots while sneaking down.

He paused for a moment in the open doorway to her bedroom and his eyes scanned over his love's drowsing form. She was curled up in a fetal position in the centre of her bed, a crisp white sheet pulled halfway up her body, arms wrapped loosely about her knees. Noticing her eyes flickering rapidly beneath her closed lids, he knew she was in the midst of a dream. A slight curve of a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Quickly he decided against waking her just yet; if she was deriving pleasure from her dream-world, she deserved to be able to stay there a while longer.

His gaze drifted over to the boxes stacked against the far wall. Piles of books, spiral notebooks and loose papers were scattered haphazardly at the foot of her bed. Settling down on the floor, he began to examine them. It took him only a minute to realize that this was Isobel's vampire research he was looking at. As Elena hadn't told him earlier what she was planning on doing this afternoon, he wondered what, exactly, she was searching for.

He didn't need to wonder long. There, at the bottom of an old, ink-spattered and frequently folded sheet of yellow lined paper, he found it. He stared at the bird-scratch handwriting – so tightly crammed together at first he had trouble deciphering what he was seeing. The words: '_Vampire-Human Blood Bond_'. Underlined twice.

Damon read the scant information over and over, committed it to memory, and set the worn-out page to one side. He then got up and crawled into bed behind Elena's sleeping form. Wrapping one arm around her, he sifted through his memory banks and began to mentally count. He knew he was right. It all made sense now. Everything fit. If only he'd known about this tidbit of rare vampire lore before now. It's not that he was unhappy about it; he just hated being blindsided by stuff like this.

She shifted and rolled over in his arms. As she pressed her face into his neck, he could tell by the slight changes in her breathing that she was drifting back to the land of consciousness.

He lowered his nose into her hair and deeply inhaled the sweet smell of her favourite strawberry shampoo – the same scent he'd associated with her for the past five years. It never failed to mentally relax him. Dropping a kissed onto the top of her head, he pulled her more closely against his body.

Before she could drift back off, safe in the comfort of his embrace, he whispered against the shell of her ear, "I think I found what you were looking for."

Elena moved back and half-opened her eyes to look at him sleepily. "What?" Her voice was only half-awake and bewildered.

"_Vampire-Human Blood Bond_. That's the info you were searching for, right?" he asked quietly, casually running the pads of his fingers up and down her bare arm.

At that Elena's eyes shot wide open and both her hands flew up to land on his chest. She gasped, "You found it! What does it say?" Pushing herself straight up in bed, she stared at him enthusiastically.

Damon tugged her back down to him, so they were lying facing each other. Briefly he looked irritated. "Information that would have been really helpful to know beforehand." Reaching over to tuck a loose strand of hair behind one ear, he sighed before continuing. "It seems that it's incredibly rare … and it's a sort of a numbers game. That had to have been a witch's idea."

Elena looked confused. "What do you mean – a numbers game?"

"The blood-sharing. The vampire has to have had the human's blood seven separate times. The seventh time the human and the vampire have to drink each other's blood simultaneously. It turns out that if this exact sequence of events happens, a mental bond is opened between them. "

"The mind reading!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, but that part is only temporary. Although, if we ever do that again, it will come back." He gave her a leer and she flashed a small, self-conscious grin as her faced turned pink.

Damon's voice softened and his face grew serious. "Elena, the emotional bond is permanent." He reached to stroke his fingers down her cheek as she took that bit in. "So it looks like you're stuck with me now."

She gazed at him for a moment as she turned over his words in her mind, then smiled again. Turning her face to briefly kiss his palm, she assured him, "I think I can live with that."

Damon decided to ignore the potential implications of their permanent bond for the moment. "There's more. When I said it was rare - it's apparently only been documented happening a handful of times, ever. It says that it can't happen unless the pair involved are…" He paused and thought about how to continue. "Very strongly emotionally connected already. I believe the term Isobel used was 'twin flames' - whatever the fuck that means. They are bound together because of their love and intense commitment to one other. It's like a spiritual marriage."

Clearing his throat, he rolled onto his back, effectively breaking their eye contact. He had no idea how she would react to this. Elena hadn't even agreed to his proposal from a few weeks ago, and now here she was, trapped in a 'spiritual marriage' with him for the rest of her life. What in God's name had they gotten themselves into this time? Maybe there was a way it could be undone?

Elena just stared at him in shock, trying to force this new information to process through her mind. Permanent bond? Spiritual marriage? Twin flames? It was a hell of a lot to take in.

She reached out to rest her hand on his chest. He was feeling trepidation right now; she knew it. Over what? Did he think that she didn't want to be permanently tied with him?

"Damon," she started. He glanced down at her. "It sounds to me like this bond wouldn't have opened if we weren't both ready for it. And it did. So, please stop worrying. You didn't accidentally trap me into something."

He kissed her on the forehead, then regarded her thoughtfully. "We need to understand how it all works. There will be times that this could prove to be a huge advantage."

She raised both brows. "You mean the telepathy, I assume?"

Damon turned back toward her and pulled her body snuggly up against his own. He whispered huskily against her left ear, "You wanna try and see if we can make it happen again? Practice makes perfect …" His lips expertly located that sensitive spot on her neck just below her earlobe.

Elena found she suddenly lost the ability to form coherent words. She ran her hands up the taut muscles of his back beneath his shirt, shifted her left leg over his hip and pressed herself more tightly into him.

"Um hmmm," she mumbled.

* * *

Stefan paused in front of the front door to the Mystic Grill. He wondered if, after four years absence, he would still see any faces he recognized when he stepped inside. Even if he did, he wondered how many would remember him.

He sighed quietly with his fingers on the handle. Being back in town had been unsettling so far. All these memories and feelings he'd been successfully suppressing for years had come rushing back to him, many of which he would have preferred to leave buried.

At this point, he'd only seen two people he cared about. Elena had been genuinely happy to see him. His brother had been, for the most part, acting bitter and irritated. Which actually, come to think of it, was pretty much status quo for Damon. At the time that he'd left town, he hadn't really been very close to anyone else, at least not close enough to remain in contact.

When Damon had taken off earlier that evening, he'd found himself wandering aimlessly about the huge boarding house. Having no one to call for company, eventually he'd decided to head out to grab a drink and maybe some dinner at the Grill.

It looked exactly the same, right down to the fading yellow paint lines on the cracked pavement of the parking lot around back. He contemplated the warm brown door for a moment longer.

Straightening his shoulders, he pasted a neutral expression on his face and pushed through the entrance.

A smile stretched his features as his eyes immediately landed on the familiar light blonde hair of Caroline sitting alone in a booth over in the corner. She was staring down at her phone with a deep frown, clearly displeased by something she was reading on it.

Stefan whispered her name from just inside the doorway, knowing her vampire hearing would pick it up instantly.

Right away she whipped her head around, dark blue eyes honing in on him. The grin that broke out across her face matched his own.

"Stefan!" she shrieked and flung herself at him at vamp speed, enveloping him in a nearly painful hug.

He took a huge breath and tried to push her back so that he could reestablish balance before he tipped completely over. When she felt his hands on her upper arms, she released him.

Her smile dropped away and was replaced by a confused look. "What's going on? Why are you …" Caroline gasped and covered her mouth with one hand as her eyes widened. She grabbed his hand with her free one and dragged him back to her booth.

Immediately she began peppering him with rapidly whispered questions. "What happened to you? When did you become human again? Where's Katherine? Does Damon know? More importantly, does _Elena_ know?"

Stefan held up one hand in an effort to stop the barrage. "Slow down, Caroline. It's great to see you, too." He smiled at her and she instantly quieted.

He softly told her the same tale he'd relayed to Elena and his brother early that morning. Caroline's eyes grew wider and wider as he went along. When he got to the part about him dying, she actually grabbed the back of his hand on the table so firmly he had to work to restrain a wince.

When he finished his story, she had such a stunned expression on her pretty face that he was briefly tempted to reach over and push her gaping mouth closed for her.

She followed up with many of the same questions that Damon had about why he'd been willing to leave Katherine behind. This time though, Stefan was more forthcoming with his answers. She understood completely the frustration of being stuck in a seventeen-year-old body forever, even though she'd only become a vampire five years ago. Not being able to hit the magical age of twenty-one along with her friends last year had been a definite source of irritation for her.

After Caroline had accidentally been turned into a vampire halfway through her junior year of high school, it had been Stefan who had shown her the ropes and helped her to understand how she would be able to successfully live her life going forward. It was ironic really that he, who had long struggled with his own blood-lust control related demons, had been the one who had taken her under his wing and taught her control. They had grown close during that time, and even though things happened later to strain their newfound friendship, their fondness for one another had never truly disappeared.

Once the shock of Stefan's newfound mortality wore off a bit, conversation returned to more 'normal' things. Caroline filled him in on many of the happenings that had gone down over the past four years, including but not limited to the girl's time at the University of Richmond and her continued on-again off-again relationship with Tyler, the vampire-werewolf hybrid she loved.

He shared some amusing stories of his own and she listened with fascination. She was clearly envious of his recent world travels. Stefan assured her that along with immortality came the endless opportunities to see the world whenever she was ready for it.

As he got up to walk her to her car, he happened to notice Bonnie with Elena's younger brother Jeremy at another booth across the way. He recalled them dating for a while back in high school. Caroline had told him about Bonnie's pregnancy and that the father of the baby seemed less than excited about the prospect of becoming a dad. He wondered briefly if the younger Gilbert was trying to fill that supportive role for the witch. It also crossed his mind that Elena would stand by her friend, of course, and he questioned whether Bonnie being pregnant had caused her to think about having babies of her own someday.

If this were the case, it would go a long way toward explaining Damon's attitude and some of the things he'd said earlier. In fact, it would quite possibly clarify everything he was wondering about his brother and Elena's relationship right now.

Stefan saw Caroline to her car, gave her a gentle hug good night and headed back to the boarding house. Now he would just have to relax for a while, bide his time, observe and gather information and see exactly where he might fit into this changing dynamic in Mystic Falls. He thought he would know soon enough if there was a place for him here any more.

* * *

Elena's head fell back heavily onto her pillow, gasping for breath as her racing heart tried to settle itself back to a normal pace. Why had no one ever told her about the kind of mind shattering orgasms blood-sharing induced? She had seriously been missing out for the past four years. Jesus-fucking-Christ! She might have to become a vampire after all just to be able to survive this kind of sensory onslaught on a regular basis. And she definitely thought this was something that would be happening on a regular basis from now on!

She rubbed one hand over her sweaty brow to push her damp hair off her face. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on slowing down her breathing.

Her post-coital haze was interrupted by Damon's voice in her head. _She looks blissed right the fuck out. Is she hyperventilating? I know I'm good, but … _

"You okay?" His words were soft and concerned; his mouth was close to her ear.

_It worked - I can hear you again. Think to me_, she projected at him, her lungs at last beginning to return to more normal breathing patterns. She flicked her eyelids back open and turned her head to stare into his clear blue eyes.

_You look … completely well-fucked._ He smirked at her and trailed the fingers of one hand through her messy hair. _And incredibly gorgeous. _He leaned forward to press a gentle kiss onto her swollen lips.

As he pulled back from her face, Elena suddenly clued into the potential for disaster in fully sharing all her thoughts with him. She immediately tried to repress certain things, but, as everyone knows, as soon as you try not to think about something you instantly can't help but think about it. The words themselves weren't loud and clear in her mind, but the visual certainly was. Just for a split second she flashed onto the image of the beautiful dark-haired, blue-eyed baby held in her arms - the same child she always pictured when she though about becoming a mom some day.

She tried to force different thoughts toward him. _This is a little freaky, isn't it?_

His eyes widened a bit as she stared at him. Then a confused expression flickered across his features and his brows narrowed. _That wasn't me_, she heard him think. Then, _Here -_ _let me try._

Elena gasped as a clear image of his mother's wedding ring with its two blue sapphires filled her mind. _The ring_, she thought. _You're thinking about your mom's wedding ring! I had no idea we could share images._

Damon nodded. She then saw what could only be his fingers slipping the ring onto the fourth finger of her left hand. She sucked in a sharp intake of breath. How to react to that?

_Don't look so scared_, he projected to her. _It's a 'someday' kind of a thought, not a 'tomorrow' kind of a thought._

Elena managed a weak smile_. I'm not scared._ He gave her a skeptical look. _Well, okay, maybe a little. I'm sorry I haven't given you an answer yet._

_It's fine, babe. It's yours if and when you decide you want it._ He flashed a small grin at her. _This mind-reading thing doesn't leave any room for secrets, does it?_

Her cheeks immediately grew hot and flushed crimson. _You saw?_

Damon nodded, his face all seriousness now. _I saw._

_I couldn't help it_. Elena corrected herself. _I can't help it._ She broke eye contact and fixated on something over his shoulder. _I'm sorry._

_Sorry for what? For wanting something that I can't give you?_ He touched her cheek with his fingers and she reluctantly looked back into his eyes. _No sorrys allowed, Elena. You can't help wanting what you want. I know that better than anyone._

She looked guilty. _I know. But the last thing I want is for you to feel like you're not good enough for me. You've spent long enough feeling that way already. And it's not true._

_I know you don't want to hurt my feelings. But this is a big deal. This is stuff we need to be discussing, not suppressing. Is that the real reason why you wouldn't take the ring?_

She looked away again. _I can't believe we're having this conversation telepathically. I can't believe we're actually having this conversation at all, to be honest._

"Then let's talk. Elena, we really need to talk about this." His voice was near pleading as his hand still gently stroked her cheek.

When she didn't reply, he asked, "What are you so afraid of? Do you think this will break us? It doesn't have to break us. There are solutions to every problem, even this. We will find one. I promise." He paused and tilted his head slightly. "Unless … you don't want to?"

Elena heard the slight crack in his voice and in response she felt its twin fracture her heart. She couldn't help the tears that overflowed the corners of her eyes and tracked trails down her cheeks at his words. He brought his other hand up so that he was framing her face, and his thumbs wiped away each shiny droplet as it fell.

As her lower lip trembled, she nodded. "I do. I do want to." She sucked in a big gasp of air then, not realizing she'd been holding her breath while he'd spoke. "I want to spend my life with you. More than anything."

He leaned in to kiss her again. "You can. Be it a short or long one. And as far as babies go, we'll find a solution to that too, when the time is right." Pausing, he then added, "Do you trust me?"

Elena stared deep into his crystal clear cerulean eyes that laid bare his soul right now. She always got lost in those eyes. "I do."

_Those are exactly the words I wanna hear you say to me one day. While wearing white._

"I love you, Elena. Together we can work through anything. Anything. As long as we communicate with each other and we trust each other." His voice was emphatic and he lowered his hands to her waist to tug her body closer to his.

A few more tears escaped and she hastily wiped them away with the back of one hand. "You're right."

Damon flashed her his most devilish grin. "I'm always right – don't you know that by now?"

She couldn't help the sudden laugh that flew from her mouth and she smacked his bicep playfully. "I know you're an ass."

_And I love you, too, Damon. Forever._

* * *

It was a gorgeous June morning in Mystic Falls. The air still held a residual amount of the overnight's coolness, but Elena knew it wouldn't last for long. It was going to be another sweltering, stifling day, just like every single other day this past week had been.

Stepping over to the open window of her bedroom, she firmly tugged it shut. She'd been in the habit recently of leaving it open all night to cool down her room while she slept, then closing it, as well as her dark curtains, during the daytime to keep out the sun's heat. You might think, after all the danger she'd faced during her last couple years of high school, that she'd insist on being firmly locked in tight every night. And of course that was a very good point. But sleeping in her over-protective vampire boyfriend's arms made her feel quite safe, even with the window open wide to the cool night air.

He'd had some errands to run or something – she couldn't quite remember exactly what he'd said as she'd been half-asleep at the time – so he'd taken off early this morning. She was pretty sure he'd told her he'd be back later to take her out for lunch. Smiling, she thought of how much he'd been going above and beyond this past month to prove to her that he could be the perfect partner. He'd even put up with a games night with all her friends here last night and managed somehow to keep the snarky comments to a minimum. That alone must have nearly killed him. She shook her head in amusement - wonders would never cease. They hadn't spoken, either out-loud or with their occasional strange new telepathy, about rings or babies or other serious matters since their conversation a week ago. Elena was just pleased that she was no longer feeling uncertain about her relationship; she trusted him and believed they would somehow find a way to make everything work out in the end. They always had so far.

Those unsettlingly vivid and lucid dreams had returned a few times recently, but she hadn't allowed herself to spend any time thinking about, let alone discussing, them. She knew at some point she should really talk to Bonnie about them, though. They _had_ to be portents for something and Bonnie was the only one she knew that had experience with dream portents having vital meanings before. She promised herself she'd confide in her friend very soon.

Glancing over at the dusty boxes still stacked against the far wall of her room, she again reminded herself that they really needed to be taken back down to the basement. Maybe later she'd ask Jeremy or Damon to help her out with that. The cartons had been sitting there mostly untouched for just over a week, so a few more hours surely wouldn't make any difference. She was freshly showered and she really didn't feel like getting all sweaty and dirty just yet.

Elena went to her desk and raised the lid of her laptop to see if she had any new messages. She hadn't thought to check in a couple of days, which really wasn't like her. Frowning, she scrolled though the e-mails, looking for anything important from any of the publications she'd applied to internships at. Finally, nearly at the bottom of the highlighted list of unread missives, she saw two that instantly grabbed her attention.

Two messages. Elena's breath caught in her throat as she quickly read them over. Both requesting interviews. And one was for – she gasped – today! Oh my God. She needed to be at the Mystic Falls Herald at 2:30pm to meet with Celia Fell. She quickly replied with an apology for the delay in responding, thanked Ms Fell for considering her and assured her that she'd be there on time.

The second e-mail was even more exciting. It was from a man named Charlie Price, the assistant editor of the Style section for the Philadelphia Inquirer. A 'real' newspaper - the big leagues. Her heart started to beat faster in her chest. Charlie Price wanted to discuss the possibility of an internship for her in Philadelphia. Elena's palms were sweaty as she began to compose a reply. After she hit the 'send' button, she realized that this simple act could possibly change everything yet again in her young life. She had a phone interview with Mr. Price on Friday at 9:30 am sharp. Two days from now.

Elena was beyond excited. Her throat was dry and her hands were shaking as she grabbed her phone to share her news with Damon.

* * *

_Please click on the little review button below and tell me your thoughts! Thank you. You guys are the best!_


	9. What If We Give It Away

**A/N** _This chapter wouldn't be here for you right now if it wasn't for the massive help of three incredibly talented FF writers who I'm extremely flattered to call my friends. HUGE thanks to lauren3210, morvamp and jazzywriter22. Please readers - go read their stories. You won't regret it. Another MASSIVE thank you to all of you who are reading this and reviewing. You guys make me smile big. _

* * *

**Chapter 9 - What If We Give It Away**

Elena hated waiting. She hated it with a fiery passion. Two weeks had passed since her interviews with the Herald and the Inquirer. Celia Fell at the Herald had contacted her several days ago to let her know that, as much as she genuinely liked Elena and thought her writing had promise, the internship had been awarded to another candidate. Which sucked, but she could live with it. Unfortunately she'd now gotten her hopes up far too high for the position at the large Philadelphia newspaper and so far she'd heard nothing. Nada. Not a damn word. She hadn't realized just how much big corporations moved at the speed of red tape. It was infuriating.

She'd diligently been checking her e-mails, phone messages, and even her texts for a message from Mr. Price at the Inquirer. Multiple times a day. She also found that she kept opening a fresh e-mail, then closing it again. Picking up her phone, then putting it down again. Pestering him about the position's status would not make her look any more appealing as a candidate. She just had to hope that she'd given a good enough phone interview and trust that he'd let her know either way, as he'd promised before they'd hung up.

Damon had taken her news of a possible job in Philadelphia surprisingly well. She hadn't known exactly how he would react, but when she'd told him, her excitement over her upcoming interview had clearly been contagious. He'd been really happy for her and assured her that, if she wanted him to, he'd go with her wherever she ended up. Which was a relief, although she didn't know why she'd been worried. She knew he would follow her to the ends of the earth if she asked him.

With a sigh of exasperation Elena closed her laptop with a loud thump and stood up suddenly, nearly knocking her desk chair over in the process. Frustrated with thinking about information she had no way of forcing to arrive, she headed for the stairs. She really just wanted a cup of coffee and someone to talk to.

As she made her way down the stairs, she heard voices coming from the kitchen. She frowned; she didn't know they had company. When she entered the room she found Bonnie and Jeremy sitting at the table. A pot of coffee was made and sitting on the counter, so she poured herself a cup and joined them, grateful for people to talk to.

Jeremy flushed as he glanced at her, which she found a little odd.

"No news yet?" he asked.

Elena rolled her eyes. "You know how great I am with patience. Nope, nothing yet," she grumbled. Taking a sip from her mug, she grimaced briefly as she realized it was decaf.

She turned to face Bonnie. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good lately, thanks," her friend replied. "My second trimester has started off much better!" Bonnie rubbed her small rounded belly that was just beginning to protrude below her violet tank top.

Elena smiled at her. "Excellent! You have a midwife appointment this afternoon, right? I'll drive this time."

Bonnie glanced quickly at Jeremy and hesitated before replying, "Actually, Elena … Jer offered to take me to this one. If you don't mind, that is?"

Elena looked between the two of them in surprise. They had been spending a fair amount of time together lately, but she honestly hadn't really thought much of it. Since when had they grown close enough for prenatal appointments? Although, she was very glad Bonnie had another friend to support her with all this, she was also wary of either of them possibly getting their hopes up for something more, only to get hurt again.

Jeremy raised his eyebrows at his sister, as if daring her to comment on it. Elena let out a small chuckle and smiled at them both. "No problem. But I wanna hear all about it later. Deal?"

Bonnie grinned at her. "Deal."

* * *

Damon had just poured himself a fifth of bourbon, no rocks, for breakfast, when he heard his phone going off in his adjacent bedroom. Dropping the book he'd been about to begin reading, he sauntered into the next room to retrieve it, assuming it was Elena.

When he heard who was on the other end he sighed. _So close and yet so far._

"Hello, Damon," a raspy, sexy voice purred.

"Katherine. Did you convince him?" He tried to keep his tone even and disinterested.

"I'm fine. How're you? How's your brother adjusting to life back in Mystic Falls? And how's Elena dealing with his change of status?"

Not thirty seconds into the conversation and he was already itching to end the call. Ignoring her leading questions, he repeated, "Did you or didn't you?"

"Of course I did. You know full well I am a _very_ adept persuader." She seemed amazed that he'd ever dare to doubt her ability to get what she wanted.

He couldn't help but grin a little. "That you are. When?"

Katherine breathed out a short chuckle. "You'd better kiss your girl and book your flight, Damon. I'll meet you at the Sydney airport the day after tomorrow. He says we need to do it on Sunday. Text me your flight details once you have them."

Then, without another word, she hung up on him.

This was it then. Everything was now in motion. Damon sat down heavily on his bed. His mind became a complicated swirl of fluctuating thoughts and conflicting emotions. He was scared, yet excited. Sad, yet ecstatic. Dreading leaving yet anxious to get it over with.

He sighed and ran the fingers of one hand through his messy hair. Compartmentalizing his tumultuous feelings, he forced himself to think about his to-do list. He needed to make some phone calls. He needed to pack. He needed to have a word with Ric.

After that he would be faced with the unpleasant task of breaking it to Elena that he was leaving for a while. Frowning to himself, he suddenly realized they could enjoy no more blood-sharing. He couldn't take the chance now of her finding out what he was planning. She'd freak out and try to stop him; try to guilt trip him into staying. This was his best last chance to fix everything and he wasn't going to allow himself to be talked out of it. Nothing was going to stand in his way to becoming the man she needed him to be.

Not if he had any say about it, anyway.

* * *

After Bonnie and Jeremy left, Elena headed back upstairs. She glared at her laptop as she entered her room, as if it was the computer's fault that the e-mail she wanted had not arrived yet.

She picked up her phone to text Damon, but before she could even open up a new message, it rang in her hand.

When she saw his name pop up on the small screen, she smiled. _Great minds think alike_. She answered the call.

"Hey, you. I was just about to call you."

"Hey, yourself. You at home?" His smooth voice sent familiar warm tingles down her spine.

"Yep. All alone…" Elena deliberately let her tone drop an octave on the last word.

"Great. I'll be over as soon as I can - just gotta make one stop first. Love you." He ended the call.

The grin that had graced her face at his call now morphed into a full-out smile. As it usually did, her mood felt immeasurably better just from hearing his voice and knowing he would soon be with her. She moved to the desk chair and lifted the lid of the computer.

There was a small number one beside the icon of her e-mail program. Her heart leapt in her chest as her anticipation suddenly skyrocketed again. It was from Celia Fell at the Herald. Her fingers trembled slightly as she clicked open her new message.

_Dear Elena,_

_Hope this note finds you well. _

_I have an opportunity here at the Herald right now that I think you might be interested in. Please give me a call at the number listed below at your earliest convenience to discuss._

_Sincerely,_

_Celia_

_Celia Fell  
Managing Editor_  
_Mystic Falls Herald_  
_(540) 555-2010_

Elena immediately reached for her cell phone and tapped in the number.

It turned out that, although the local paper had already taken on an intern for the upcoming summer season, they had a special assignment that Miss Fell thought Elena would be well suited for.

Founders Day was fast approaching and the residents of Mystic Falls took their Founders Day, and the activities during the week leading up to Founders Day, very seriously. One of the events that the townspeople were most looking forward to was the visit next weekend of the prestigious Antiques Roadshow to their town. All around Mystic Falls, people were busy cleaning out their attics, basements and storage rooms, looking for old pieces that they were hoping to be told were worth a fortune.

Miss Fell wanted Elena to interview them. Do some research. Write some stories over the next few days about the interesting antiques she saw. If the small stories were good enough and met with her approval, then she wanted Elena to cover the big Antiques Roadshow event next Friday and write a splash piece for the Local News section of the paper.

Was Elena Gilbert up for this assignment? Damn right she was. She accepted with gratitude and excitement. She knew if she worked hard, did her fact-checking carefully, got some good quotes and wrote some great pieces, this could end up being an excellent project to add to her resume. And if the response from Philadelphia turned out to be negative, then maybe just maybe this could be the foot in the door she would need for more regular assignments from the Herald. Which wouldn't be so bad, really. She could then stay in town with her brother and her friends. And Damon.

* * *

Dust-mote filled bands of sunlight shone through the big glass front windows of the Grill, creating dramatic shadows across the hardwood floor as Damon stepped inside. He took a quick glance towards the darkened rear of the large room and spotted Alaric seated at the bar. Making his way over between the mostly-empty tables, he took the stool beside his friend.

A tumbler of bourbon was already sitting on the bar waiting for him. Grateful, he took a swig as he turned to face Ric.

Alaric raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "In case you hadn't noticed, Damon, it's Thursday. Unlike you, I actually have a job. So why did I need to come down here on my only spare period today and meet you at a moment's notice, exactly?"

Damon smirked. "As if it's any hardship to force yourself to come have a drink with me."

Ric sighed. "I can't stay long. One drink only. So if there's something you need to tell me, I'd suggest you start talking."

Damon paused for a second and looked at him more closely. "I have to go out of town for a while. I want to you keep an eye on Elena for me."

Surprise crossed Alaric's features. 'You're leaving her here? Where are you going?"

"The less questions asked, the better," Damon replied firmly.

"Being cryptic again, I see. Does Elena know you're going? Better yet, does she know _why_? Or is she not in on this mysterious 'secret mission' either?" Alaric's expression was reproachful.

Damon shot his friend an exasperated look. "She doesn't know yet, but I'm heading over right now to tell her. And no, she also doesn't need to know the wheres, whys or hows."

"Fine. Your funeral once she finds out. How about the 'when' then?"

Damon had to restrain a wince at the mention of the word 'funeral'. He paused before replying, "First thing tomorrow morning. Will you watch out for her for me or not?"

Ric frowned at him. "Of course I will. Is there something specific you want me to be watching for?"

"No. But if anything seems even slightly off, contact me." Damon swallowed the last of his drink and banged the glass heavily back onto the bar.

Tilting his head slightly, Alaric asked, "Is there any particular reason you're asking me to watch out for her and not your brother? I mean, I know he's back in town and he's a lot more … capable … of protecting Elena than I am."

Giving him a steely look, Damon answered, "Because I _trust_ you. And because Stefan is no longer the man you used to know. "

"What the fuck is _that_ supposed to mean?" Ric asked.

"You'll find out soon enough. I've got a lot to deal with today, Ric. I'm gonna take off. Thank you." He clapped one hand on his friend's shoulder.

He heard Alaric call "When are you coming back?" at his retreating form as he walked out, but he didn't offer a reply.

* * *

Elena sat curled up in an overstuffed chair in the corner of the Gilbert living room, trying her damndest to become wrapped up in a Hunter S. Thompson novel that Jeremy had left on the coffee table, but she actually found herself just reading the same sentence over and over again. She was waiting impatiently for Damon to arrive. What was taking him so long? He'd said he'd be right over after he made one quick stop.

When he finally walked in the front door, she was sitting on the bottom step of the stairs waiting, all attempts at distracting herself abandoned. A big grin immediately plastered itself across her pretty face at the sight of him as she leapt to her feet. She was obviously eager to see him today.

Elena bounded forward and grasped both of his hands in hers. "Guess what?" she asked excitedly.

Damon couldn't help but return her wide smile. He'd been sensing her happiness, impatience and anticipation ever since he'd walked into the Mystic Grill and he was curious to find out what the cause of it was.

"What?" he responded.

"I got a job offer!" She was literally bouncing up and down as she told him. "Celia Fell at the Herald contacted me again. They want me to cover the big Antiques Roadshow event next weekend, with a few small excitement-inducing pieces during the week leading up to it. It even pays!"

His smile widened as her enthusiasm grew within both of them. "That's wonderful, Elena. I'm so proud of you!" Capturing her face in his hands, he gave her a congratulatory kiss.

She pulled back and looked at him, her expression shifting dramatically from joy to wariness. "What's wrong?"

Damon sighed. _Damn it._ This emotional bond thing definitely had both its positive and negative benefits. He silently took her hand and led her upstairs. On the way he focused on putting up some mental shields on his emotions. The last thing he needed was for Elena to pry any further into what had his nerves alight.

Elena let go of his hand as she walked into her bedroom and sat on the edge of her bed, turning to face him as he lowered himself down beside her.

"What's going on, Damon? I can feel that you're worried about something. And a bit … sad, too? Why?" She stared into his expressive blue eyes, searching for answers and trying to comprehend the negative emotions that she'd been picking up from him. They seemed lessened now, tampered down somewhat.

He swallowed nervously. "You're not going to like it."

"Tell me." She made it abundantly clear she wasn't going to accept any further avoidance.

Damon reached over and laced the fingers of one hand through hers. A concerned expression marred his perfect features. Sighing again, he quietly said, "I have to leave for a while."

Elena's brows shot up. "What do you mean – leave? Where are you going?"

"You trust me, right?" he asked softly.

She narrowed her eyes as her frown deepened. "You know I do."

"Then you need to trust me when I tell you I can't answer your questions right now. I'll tell you everything as soon as I can. When I get back." He was looking intently at her, imploring her to not push it this time.

"Is something wrong? Are you in trouble?" Her voice was starting to take on a panicky edge.

"Elena…"

"No, you can't tell me that, can you? Why not? Why can't you tell me?" She was becoming agitated as well as anxious and Damon could feel it drifting into him with each new question.

"Elena … please. I'm sorry, but I really need you to just trust me with this." He raised one hand to cup the side of her face. "Please – can you do that for me?"

She clenched her jaw tightly in frustration and reached up to grip his wrist as his fingers began to stroke her cheek softly. Her skin below his touch currently seemed far, far too cold.

Relaxing tension finally, she heaved an exasperated sigh. "Fine. Let me just remind you that you were the one who recently told me that we needed to communicate with each other in order to make this work. You'll tell me what's going on the moment you're able to?"

Damon nodded solemnly, visible relief etching across his face. "I will."

"Okay. How long will you be gone for?" she asked warily.

He paused for a moment, then said, "I don't really know for sure, Elena. Not long, I don't think. And it's not like we'll be completely out of touch. I'll call you as often as I can, okay?"

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" Her words belied a bitter tone just for a moment. "So, when are you leaving?"

Breaking eye contact, Damon turned and focused his gaze out her bedroom window. Eventually he softly replied, "First thing in the morning."

He heard a sharp intake of breath at his words and then her slightly unsteady voice quickly followed. "Damon! First thing in the morning? Really?"

"I'm sorry, Elena. It can't be helped. I'll stay with you until I have to go, if you want me to." Shifting his head, he met her now damp-looking eyes head on again.

"Just promise me you're coming back. If you can do that then I'll trust you and I'll try my best not to worry about you while you're gone. Can you promise me that?" she asked him plaintively, struggling hard to keep her words from wavering.

Damon hesitated. He hated to make promises to her that he couldn't be certain he could keep. But this one time he decided to make an exception and just hope that it was one he would end up making good on. He squeezed her fingers in his. "Promise."

Then he leaned over to kiss her.

She didn't know why, but Elena got the impression that he was already kissing her goodbye though he didn't need to leave her side until morning. His soft lips slid and pressed firmly against hers before he opened his mouth to her to deepen the kiss. Sliding his hands around behind her, she sucked in a whispery breath when he trailed his fingers across the skin of her lower back as he slid them up underneath her t-shirt.

Pulling back slightly, she let him gently tug her top over her head. It landed somewhere on the floor, but she barely noticed. All her attention was focused on Damon's expressive eyes as he carefully lowered her body backward into her pillows. He hovered above her, balancing on his elbows and staring at her with such love and devotion that her breath caught in her throat. She found herself at a rare loss for words

"I'll always love you. Nothing will ever change that," Damon whispered, and his lips found hers again – not wild with reckless abandon this time but tender, with a sweet passion that accentuated the truth behind his words.

Elena combed her fingers through his dark hair and held him against her. Truth be told, she was terrified at the thought of his leaving, although she didn't have a good explanation for why it scared her so much. She'd agreed not to push him about it, but right now all she really wanted was to cling to him and never let go. Knowing he would sense her fear and how it would undoubtedly make him feel, she pushed it away and concentrated on his kisses.

Eventually their clothes were scattered as they gently explored each other with their lips and tongues and fingers for endless minutes, carefully and lazily as if they had all the time in the world.

Damon trailed soft kisses down her neck, being sure to caress every inch of her skin on his meandering path to her breasts. When at last he sucked one pebbled nipple into his mouth, she gasped and arched her back up beneath him. Smiling against her skin, he noted her usual impatience. He could sense it not only just in her movements but also feel it projected at him loud and clear. Well, she was just going to have to accept taking things slow today; he was not going to rush this. Not when he had no guarantee that they'd ever be together again once he left.

The fingers of one hand drifted further south, making their way down over Elena's smooth flesh. He ignored the way she began to writhe beneath his touch to encourage him to speed up. Eventually his questing fingertips landed lightly on the place where she needed him most. Her hips bucked up at the first stroke and she groaned, low and deep in her throat like a kitten's growl. It was one of the most erotic sounds he'd ever heard.

Damon purposely kept things sensual and the pace relaxed. When she finally reached her climax, he shifted upward and leaned his head into the crook of her arm so he could watch her face as she descended from it. There was very little that pleased him more than seeing the result of how much he could please her. And now that he was able to feel her emotions flowing through him as well, it only heightened the experience for both of them.

The relaxing sensation of his hand lightly stroking her side enabled her to finally begin to come down from her high. He conveyed so much feeling to her with just the touch of his fingers on her skin. Rolling so she was again looking at him, she took his face in her hands.

Elena kissed him briefly, then observed, "You're taking things awfully slow today."

"You have a problem with that?" he smirked.

"No," she replied, "I'm just not used to you being so … gentle. Like I'm some kind of fragile, precious doll or something."

His brows drew together at her words.

"I won't break, Damon. You know that better than anyone." She looked slightly perturbed at the thought, and he remembered her confessing that she hated it when his brother had treated her like porcelain all those years ago.

He slid one hand up her smooth back until it was cupping the nape of her neck. Regarding her seriously, he softly said, "You _are_ fragile and precious. To me. And I wouldn't change a thing."

Elena's heart leapt in her throat at the sincerity in his words. "I love you," she whispered and she leaned in to kiss him again.

Damon sat up and tugged her into his lap, so that they were both upright, facing each other in the middle of the bed. He pressed his lips to hers again as he lifted her hips and brought her carefully forward and down onto him. They groaned into each other mouths as she slowly lowered her body, her legs wrapping snuggly around his waist, until she fully enveloped him in her velvety heat.

In unison they began to move, locked into each other's gaze between exchanging soft kisses. His hands glided down the sides of her face, through her hair, across her shoulders and descended her back, then back up again to repeat the process. Elena found herself in awe of this version of the man she loved. She couldn't remember their lovemaking ever being so spiritually connected, so intimately reverent.

As she again detected the slow but unmistakable approach of another climax, she braced her hands on Damon's shoulders and started to increase her pace. She felt his fingers cease their gentle caresses and grip firmly onto her hipbones as he drove his thighs up harder, with an insistence that was much more familiar to her.

Elena's breathing again began to quicken. The gasps she felt and heard him emit against her overheated skin made her slick flesh break into goose pimples. Her own cries became in sync with his as they moved faster together.

Sweeping her sweat-dampened hair away from her neck, she bared her throat to him, offering her blood to his hunger, to his passion. Wanting to feel his teeth move in her as his body moved in her. Wanting to feel connected to him in every possible way.

She waited for the sting of his fangs. She waited for that sensuous pull of his mouth on the wound, taking her essence into him. She waited for him to initiate opening their bond again.

Instead, he kissed the length of her neck tenderly from the base of her throat up to her chin and once more found his way back to her lips. She was briefly confused as to why he didn't bite her this time, but then the onslaught of her orgasm became all she could focus on.

She shuddered against him as incredible pleasure once more encompassed her entire being. Crying out against his mouth, she tugged his face down to her neck again and squeezed her eyes tightly closed, gasping as she rode out wave after wave of those wonderful sensations.

Convulsing around him, her throbbing muscles ignited his own release and he moaned her name against the pulsating artery on her throat. Damon had to battle to keep his demon at bay faced with such incredible temptation. The rushing of her blood under the surface of her skin, just below his lips, called to him like a sirens song. But he knew he had no choice this time. He tapped into the inner strength that Elena loving him provided and found it was easily stronger than his vampire needs. He successfully reburied his bloodlust back within himself.

Damon rolled them over so they were lying on their sides, facing each other again. He stroked her face as she relaxed against him and, noticing her shiver, he tugged a blanket up over them.

She curled up into him and rested her head against his chest, splaying her long, delicate fingers across his abdomen.

"I'm gonna miss you. Hope you're not gone for long," she murmured.

The pads of his fingertips swept gently back and forth, starting at her temple and gliding down along her hair. "Me, too." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Me, too."

* * *

They left Elena's room only once the rest of that day, when her stomach wouldn't stop rumbling and he insisted on dragging her down to the kitchen to get some food.

As he was cooking up some quick pasta, Damon noticed her rummaging around in the drawers, clearly searching for something.

"Whatcha looking for?" he inquired.

She turned to him with a triumphant look on her face as she shoved the drawer she'd been most recently digging in shut. Raising her hand, she clinked together a couple of small empty glass jars with little rubber stoppers.

Damon frowned in confusion. "What're those for? So I can sneak two shots of bourbon into my suitcase?"

Elena laughed. "Not exactly."

She sat down at a chair as he slid two plates of yummy looking pasta onto the table.

Taking the chair opposite her, he looked at her expectantly. "Well?" he gestured toward the bottles now sitting at the end of the table.

Flushing slightly, Elena replied, "I had an idea."

Damon's eyebrows shot up questioningly, as he forked a bite of steaming noodles into his mouth.

"What if you took some of my blood with you? And left a bit of yours for me? Then if we needed to, we could communicate silently with each other - no matter where you were."

Swallowing, Damon tilted his head and forced a grin. "Not just a pretty face after all – that's a really smart idea. Why didn't I think of that? Proud of you." And he was. Very. It was just too bad it couldn't actually happen, but he wasn't about to tell her that.

Elena smiled at back at him and then dug into her supper.

* * *

Damon didn't sleep at all. He held her snug against his chest throughout the night, listening to her breathing, the gentle thump of her heartbeat and the low gurgles and swishes of her body as she slept. Every once in a while he'd stroke his hand along her arm or down the smooth warm skin of her belly or her thigh. Every once in a while he'd drop a soft kiss into her hair or onto her shoulder.

His heart broke at the thought of leaving her, possibly forever if his plan didn't play out as he hoped it would. This gamble was huge, but the potential payoff for them both would make everything worthwhile. He sure as fuck hoped it would all be worth it in the end. He knew he was betting everything he had on this working.

It crossed Damon's mind that this would probably be the last time he'd be able to so clearly sense everything about her. Their connection would never again be as strong as it was right now. It was a bittersweet thought.

When the first light of dawn eased over the horizon and began to gradually lessen the darkness of her quiet bedroom, he leaned over to kiss her gently on the forehead and then on her sleeping lips.

Ever so softly he whispered by the soft shell her ear, "I love you, Elena. I'll see you again soon. Real soon."

Then he silently slipped out of bed, got dressed and went down to his car.


	10. Life and How to Live it

**A/N** _Special thanks to CreepingMuse for betaing this chapter for me. She's a hugely talented writer - I strongly advise you to check out her stories, you'll be impressed! Thank you to all who take the time to leave me a review. It means a lot to me.  
_

* * *

**Chapter 10 - Life and How To Live It**

Damon's skin was crawling with revulsion by the time he cleared customs at the Sydney International Airport. That was undoubtedly the longest flight he'd ever been on. Right now he hated with a passion airplanes, airports and most of all the smelly, sweaty, loud human race. With one small exception, of course.

What he wanted more than anything was a shower and a clean bed. At this point, everything else could wait.

Unfortunately, Katherine was waiting for him on the public side of the customs barrier wall. He sighed deeply the moment he laid eyes on her flawless face that looked so much like the woman he loved, yet clearly was not. Getting through the next few days or however long this process would take was going to be a special kind of torture for him.

_Play nice, Damon. She's helping you out here._

"Katherine," he greeted, without preamble.

"Hello Damon," she replied, a slight smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "How was your flight?"

"I'm sure I have a pretty good preview of what hell will be like now. Can we just go?" His irritation was palpable.

Without answering, she turned her back on him and began to walk down the hallway in what he assumed was the direction of the exit. Sighing, he picked up his duffel bag and followed her.

After a series of corridors and escalators, she eventually led him out onto a bright, sunlit sidewalk where a black stretch limo was waiting. The driver quickly came around and swept open the door for her, lifting one hand to help her climb inside. The man was obviously compelled. Damon rolled his eyes and scrambled into the cool interior of the car, taking the seat opposite her.

"A limo, Katherine? How very ostentatious of you," he smirked, as he reached for a glass from the bar and poured himself a drink.

She lifted one perfectly tweezed brow in his direction. "It's anonymous. In this city, anonymity can be easy. No one thinks too much about yet another dark-windowed limousine going by. Just one more nouveau-riche asshole among many. And as you've noticed, it has its perks. Make one for me while you're at it." That last was delivered more like a command than a request.

Damon was about to tell her she could get her own fucking drink, but at the last second he chose to bite his tongue. Pouring a second tumbler of whiskey, he silently handed it across to her.

Katherine took a sip and regarded him thoughtfully for a moment.

"Is she really worth it?" she finally asked.

He just glared at her. "Don't try to undermine me now, Katherine. I'm _really_ not in the mood."

"No, really, Damon. Tell me. I want to know." She sounded uncharacteristically genuine

His piercing blue eyes bored holes into her all-too-familiar-yet-so-very-wrong brown ones and he sighed again. _They're both so fucking persistent!_

"Yes. She's worth it to me," he gritted out through clenched teeth.

"I hope so. It would be a shame if it all ended up being for nothing. Did you tell her that you could die? Like as in forever-dead?" She settled back against the black leather seat back and took another sip of her whiskey. What had happened to Stefan was a fluke - an unfortunate accident. She knew he never would have chosen to turn human on purpose. But Damon - Damon was a whole different beast. Everything he did, he did passionately and usually quite recklessly. It was one of the things that had drawn her to him in the first place, all those many decades ago. Much as he annoyed her, she honestly didn't want him to die.

"What I did or didn't tell Elena is really none of your fucking business."

"So you didn't tell her," she stated. It wasn't a question.

Damon swallowed the remnants of his drink in a single gulp and stared out the window at the passing cityscape. He debated not responding. Finally he just said, "Nope."

And with that, conversation came to an abrupt halt until they arrived at his hotel.

* * *

Elena examined the house she had just pulled up in front of. Even by Mystic Falls' standards, this building was old. She briefly wondered if it had been here in Damon and Stefan's time. Remembering that she would see the younger Salvatore later, she made a mental note to ask him.

Her eyes ran over the one-storey stone structure. It had seen better days, that was for sure. The peeling blue paint on both the shutters and the curved-top front door attested to that. The split and crumbling flagstone walkway leading up to the slightly sagging wooden porch solidified the fact.

She didn't know the occupant, Mrs. Elizabeth Washington, but they had spoken on the phone the evening before and the elderly woman had remembered Elena's parents quite clearly. Luckily, she hadn't hesitated to invite Miranda and Grayson's now-grown daughter over to look at the old jewelry she was planning to bring to the Antiques Roadshow next weekend for appraisal.

Elena made her way carefully up to the door, not wanting to catch a heel in a crack and go sprawling, ruining her professional first impression. There was no doorbell, so she raised her fisted hand up to knock. Before she could make contact with the dingy, cracked surface, it was suddenly pulled open.

As her fist fell back to her side, she found herself staring into a pair of pale green eyes deeply set in a creased, narrow face. A snow-white cap of curls framed wizened cheeks and a mouth that broke into a wide, gap-toothed smile at the sight of her.

A wrinkled hand shot out and grasped one of Elena's wrists, tugging her into the dimly lit front room.

"You must be Elena!" the old woman exclaimed excitedly. "I've been so looking forward to your visit this afternoon. Please, come sit down!"

"It's great to meet you, Mrs. Washington." She glanced around doubtfully but didn't allow her polite grin to falter. "You have a lovely home."

Mrs. Washington laughed, a dry cackly sound that reminded Elena far too much of the Wicked Witch of the West from "The Wizard of Oz". Not that she looked anything like a witch; she looked pleasant and completely harmless, truth be told.

"This dump? Back when I was young, it was 'lovely', as you say. Now, it needs far more work than I can afford. I'm afraid I've let it go over the years, my dear. Maybe those experts next weekend will tell me my jewelry is worth big bucks and I'll be able to get some repairs done." She waived a cane that had previously been leaning against the side of her chair towards the front window.

Then she laughed again, and this time Elena was happy to note that she didn't get any Wicked Witch vibes at all. "Oh, who am I kidding? If I come into any real money, I'm packing up and heading straight to Florida."

Elena smiled a sympathetic smile at the woman and perched herself on the edge of the overstuffed purple sofa.

"I don't blame you. Moving to a place that's warm all year round definitely has its appeal." She cleared her throat and decided to get to the point of her visit. "I would love to see this necklace you told me about, please. If that's still okay?"

"Oh yes, of course. Make yourself comfortable a moment while I go get it." Mrs. Washington leaned on her cane to assist in walking into the back of the ancient house.

While she was gone, Elena took a moment to examine the small living room. There was a dark wood upright piano against the far wall with various photos, vases and other knick-knacks displayed on top of it. An orange vinyl rocker-recliner was crammed into one corner, clashing violently with the bright violet of the couch on which she sat. Various crocheted throw pillows here and there glared with a myriad of rainbow hues. She wondered for a moment if Mrs. Washington might be colour-blind.

At that thought, the elderly woman hobbled back into the room carrying an oval old-fashioned necklace box. Elena shifted over so that she could take a seat beside her on the sofa.

Mrs. Washington's fingers trembled a little as she carefully lifted up the lid of the brown velvet-covered box. Cream silk lined the interior, and nestled among the folds lay a delicate white gold or silver necklace. It featured a stunning drop pendant showcasing twin sapphires that were framed by twisted fine silver strands. A ray of sunlight sparkled off the bevels of the stones as the movement of the box reflected them into the light shining through the large front window.

Elena's breath caught in her throat and she quickly raised a hand to her mouth to muffle her gasp. This necklace was a perfect matching piece to Damon's mother's wedding ring.

She hesitantly reached one finger out and stroked the edge of the pendant. Taking a second to ensure her voice was steady, she commented, "It's beautiful, Mrs. Washington. Where did you get it?"

"It's been in my family since my great-grandmother's time, dear. The story goes it was given to her when her best friend died, so she cherished it and passed it down to her daughter, who passed it down to my mother, who gave it to me," she replied.

Elena looked up to meet the woman's eyes, her brows furrowed in confusion. "I hope I'm not stepping out of line, but I have to ask. Why would you want to sell it if it has such strong sentimental value?"

"It's okay, Elena. It's only natural you'd wonder that. I have no daughters or granddaughters to pass it on to. It was important to my great-grandmother but it's never been a piece that I've cared for all that much. Mostly, I need the money more than I need this box taking up space in my dresser drawer." She smiled grimly as she surveyed her surroundings again.

"I understand." Elena gently ran her fingertips over the sapphires once more. "May I take some photos of the necklace for the paper?"

"Of course, my dear." Mrs. Washington stood up to turn on the overhead light, giving the room more illumination for the pictures.

When Elena had finished snapping her shots, asking a few mores questions and making some notes, she got up to get ready to leave. As she stood by the doorway, she paused and turned around to the elderly woman again.

"By any chance do you happen know who the necklace originally belonged to?" Elena questioned hopefully.

Mrs. Washington's brows shot up. Her slightly shaky fingers reached across to flip the pendant over and Elena returned to the coffee table to have a closer look. Engraved into the backside of it were four scripted words.

_All My Love,  
Giuseppe_

* * *

When Elena got back home, she went upstairs to her room to download the photos off of her camera and onto her laptop. As she studied the close-ups of the beautiful pendant, she became more and more positive that it was matching piece to Damon's mother's ring.

Sighing, she regretted – not for the first time – that she didn't have the ring here to examine and compare. Preferably sitting right here against her skin on her finger.

Picking up her phone, she considered texting Damon one of the photos of the necklace and asking him if he recognized it. Then she remembered she was still pissed at him, not only for leaving without telling her why, but also for taking off while she was asleep, robbing her of the chance to say goodbye. She was angry and hurt and planning to give him a piece of her mind next time they spoke. Whenever that might be.

Stefan was coming over later, to have supper with Jeremy, Bonnie and herself and hang out. She would just drag him up here, show him the photos and ask him what he thought.

Decided, she changed into shorts and a tank top and was just reaching out to grab her phone off the side of her desk, when it began to ring.

_Damon!_

Quickly picking it up, she glanced at the incoming message window. It read "Philadelphia Inquirer".

Elena's heart skipped a beat. Without hesitation, she answered. Anticipation flooded her as she realized that it was Mr. Price, with whom she'd last spoken exactly sixteen days ago. She'd nearly given up hope for the internship role at this point.

Today was shaping up to be chock full of surprises. Mr. Price first apologized for taking so long to get back to her with an answer. Then, to her amazement, he offered her the job if she still wanted it. Her thoughts flashed to Damon again and Elena asked if she could get back to Mr. Price with an answer about the internship shortly. After first reminding her that he needed to know quickly so they could offer it to another candidate if she declined, he then relented somewhat. She had twenty-four hours to contact him with her decision.

When the call ended, Elena found herself staring unseeingly at her phone in her palm. Philadelphia. A big, respected newspaper. Moving again. Damon. Her heart was palpitating and her mind was swirling. The necklace was temporarily forgotten.

She held her breath, scrolled through her contact list and tried to reach him.

* * *

Damon came slowly awake out of a strange and out-of-focus dream to the sound of a tinny "Für Elise" chiming repeatedly somewhere in his room. It took him a moment or two to recognize the noise as his phone going off.

He reached out blindly and scrabbled his fingers along the bedside table until his hand closed over the small plastic device.

Dragging it under the thick covers with him, he put it to his ear. "What?" he demanded, sounding both groggy and irritated. His eyes were still tightly closed.

"Damon?" Elena's faint voice echoed through the connection. "Did I wake you?"

He rolled to his side and poked his head from the blankets to blearily squint at the clock on the dresser. It was 4:54 am. Not that she had any idea of what time zone he was in. Sighing, he pulled the covers back over his face as he flopped back into the pillows. Thank fuck this hotel had comfortable bedding.

"S'okay, Elena," he replied, trying to even out the sleep gruffness from his voice. "How're you?"

"I'm still pissed off at you for pulling that disappearing act on me while I was sleeping. But that's not why I'm calling. I have some amazing news!" Her excitement was evident in her tone.

Damon decided to ignore the former statement for the time being and focus on the latter, as it was obviously the more important detail to her right now.

"Tell me," he responded, her enthusiasm flowing into him as their connection solidified while they spoke.

"I just got the call from Philadelphia! They want me!" she exclaimed.

Damon could see her wide smile from the other side of the world; it was so evident. A twin expression broke out across his own face.

"Congratulations! I told you you aced that interview. When do they need you there?" He mentally crossed his fingers that it wasn't Monday morning.

"I haven't told them 'yes', yet."

"Why not?" He furrowed his brow, genuinely bewildered.

She sighed. "Because I hadn't talked to you about it yet." When he didn't immediately respond, she continued, "So? Should we move to Philadelphia for a while?"

"Why are you asking me? It's your decision, Elena. You want this. Why is there even any question? You should have accepted straight away." Maybe it was because he still wasn't fully awake, but for the life him he couldn't figure out why she'd hesitated.

"Damon, as you keep reminding me lately, we're a team and we function best when we work together. And although _you_ are currently in the midst of shutting me out of something important to you, I decided to not make a big life-altering decision without talking to you about it first." She paused for a breath. "So I'll ask again - should we do this? Or not?"

The girl had a point and he definitely felt guilty about it, but he still wasn't really in much of a sharing mood when it came to his reasons for being in Sydney. Yet she required his input before she felt comfortable giving the guy who offered her dream internship an answer. As much as he firmly felt that it was her decision alone to make, he was greatly touched that she was including him on it.

"Of course, Elena. No question. If it's what you want, then it's a non-issue. Don't you know by now I'd do anything for you?" Which in some ways made him feel abso-fucking-lutley whipped, but in most other ways was all he knew any more. Happy Elena equaled happy Damon. Simple as that.

It was the reason he was here, waiting to do this, after all.

He heard her catch her breath. "So, we're moving to Philadelphia?" she asked, awe and slight disbelief evident in her voice.

"We're moving to Philly," he answered firmly. "Land of cheese-steak and … and … cream cheese? What's with all the cheese? I thought that was Wisconsin?"

Damon was rewarded for his half-assed effort at humour with an effervescent giggle reaching from the earpiece of his phone to wrap around his unbeating heart. It was his favourite sound in the whole world. A pang of longing hit him hard.

"I miss you," he said softly. "I wish I was there to celebrate with you in person."

"I miss you, too. Do you know when you'll be home yet?" She sounded so hopeful. He wished he had a better answer for her.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I don't know. I swear I'll call you as soon as I do. Promise." He tried to sound confident as he strengthened those mental blocks so she wouldn't feel his worry.

"Okay. I'm gonna go break the news to Jeremy and everybody. Love you. Call me soon?"

"Love you, too. I will - real soon." He sure hoped so. The sooner the better.

"Bye, Damon. Don't do anything stupid."

Before he could formulate a sarcastic reply to that, she'd disconnected the call. Damn girl always loved to get the last word in. He just hoped like hell it didn't end up being their actual last words.

* * *

Later that evening over supper, Elena told Jeremy, Bonnie and Stefan about her good news. After her conversation with Damon, she had called Mr. Price back to gratefully accept the internship offer. She was now expected to be in Philadelphia to meet with him in person a week from Monday. Before her guests had arrived, she'd already spent an hour online scanning apartment listings in the area. Having Damon's input for that, too, would have been ideal, but since neither one of them knew yet when he'd be back, she was determined to get this all organized on her own.

Once they got past the initial shock of realizing she was moving, her friends were very supportive and happy for her. Jeremy had already begun planning the cool things he wanted to see and do in the city when he came up to visit her over the summer. Bonnie was pleased that Elena was getting her foot in the door for the career she wanted, but she also commented on how good the "change of scenery" would do her. Elena translated that to mean "I know you just got back to Mystic Falls two months ago, but I'm really glad for you that you're getting out again."

Stefan smiled and listened for a while as the other three chatted excitedly about Philadelphia. He offered her his congratulations and asked if Damon would be joining her when she moved. When she replied in the affirmative, he pasted his grin back on again. He didn't seem unhappy about her news - far from it, in fact. But he was definitely acting a little reserved. Elena assumed it was because he was still readjusting to being back here and around all of them again. It was hard to remember clearly, but she felt like he'd always acted rather reserved around her friends in the past as well.

When the boys went into the living room so Jeremy could show Stefan his latest art project, Elena and Bonnie began to tidy up the kitchen.

As Elena was wiping down the table, she heard her friend quietly clear her throat behind her.

"So … I spoke with Nick last night …" Bonnie ventured.

Elena abandoned the dishcloth in a heap in the middle of the damp tabletop and swiveled to face the other girl with her brows raised questioningly. "And?"

Bonnie's lips pressed into a tight line before she replied, "And … and I told him we were over, "Lena." She kept her voice low so the boys in the adjacent room wouldn't overhear.

"Oh, hon." Elena moved forward to wrap her arms around her petite friend. She could feel Bonnie's rounded belly press against her hip as she hugged her. "You and baby won't be alone, I promise. I'll come back and visit every weekend if you want. Or you both can come up and spend some time with us."

Bonnie pulled back and smiled at her. "Thanks, sweetie. I appreciate it. But you'll be crazy busy settling in and with your new job, so I think visiting _every_ weekend is gonna be a little much. Although driving Damon crazy by forcing him to spend a weekend with not only me, but me and a screaming, pooping infant definitely has it's appeal, so I'm sure we'll come visit you!"

Both of them laughed at the mental image of Damon being forced to deal with a baby. Though Elena wondered just how much his patience would really be tested with a newborn baby around. Truthfully, she thought that Damon might actually surprise them on that one.

Bonnie continued, "Plus, you don't need to worry - I won't be alone. I've got Caroline here. And Jeremy."

Elena narrowed her eyes at her childhood friend. "Yeah, about that …" She bit her lip, unsure of how to continue. Finally she just decided to come out with it.

"What's going on with you two?" she whispered, glancing furtively toward the doorway where she could overhear the boys chatting in the next room.

Bonnie blushed and tugged Elena back toward the entrance to the foyer, so that they were as far from the guys as possible. "Nothing! Well … maybe not 'nothing', exactly. I don't know yet. But whatever it is – I like it. He's … he's changed a lot from the sixteen-year-old boy I dated in high school. He's all grown up now. And … he makes me happy, Elena."

Elena exhaled in relief and grasped her friend's hand. "Good. You deserve to be happy, Bon. But what about Nick? What if he wants to be part of his child's life?"

"It's his baby. If he changes his mind and decides he wants to be a dad after all, I won't stop him. But there will be ground rules. And if Jer is in the picture, Nick will just have to deal with it." She had that familiar look of Bennett determination all over her face.

"Okay. Sounds like you've given this a lot of thought." Elena smiled at her.

"I have. More than you know." Bonnie returned her grin.

Elena reached down and gently rubbed her friend's growing baby bump. She bowed her head and, tucking her hair behind one ear, she softly said, "Hey, baby. It's your Auntie Elena. I just want you to know that I'll always be here for you and your Mommy if you need me. And you're very lucky cause you've got the bestest, smartest Mommy in the whole world."

Bonnie laughed. "You're talking to my belly!"

Elena grinned back at her. "So? It's true!"

"Love you, "Lena. I'll miss you when you move. But not for long – cause we'll see each other all the time." She hugged her friend again.

* * *

When Bonnie and Jeremy had settled in with a large bowl of popcorn between them on the couch to watch a movie, Elena excused herself and asked Stefan to join her upstairs.

She raised the lid of her laptop and brought up the photos of the necklace that she'd taken earlier that day. Angling the screen in his direction, she asked, "Does this look familiar to you, Stefan?"

He knelt down beside her chair so that he could scrutinize the pictures closely. "No … I don't think so. Should it?"

Elena pulled up the shot of the back of the pendant and zoomed in on the engraving. "I think it might have originally been your mother's. Are you sure you don't recognize it?"

Stefan examined the words carved into the silvery metal. "Wow. That's … wow. Where did you find this? It's not ringing any bells to me. But my mother died when I was very young, Elena. I probably wouldn't remember a necklace. Damon might, though. You should ask him."

Elena sighed. "Well it was worth a try. Yeah, I'll ask him. When he gets back, I'll ask."

Studying her face carefully, he asked, "When _is_ he coming back?"

She shrugged and turned back to her laptop screen. He put a hand on her forearm. When she glanced back at him, he narrowed his eyes. "Elena. Do you even know where he is?"

Biting her lip, she tore her gaze away from his concerned expression and answered him dryly. "No, Stefan. He didn't tell me. Did he tell _you_ anything?"

"No. But I just assumed you'd know," he replied. Elena hated the disappointed-in-his-brother tone that was evident in his voice.

She laughed once, a short, bitter sound of derision. "You'd think, wouldn't you? After four years together, you'd think he'd involve me in his big decisions and not keep important stuff from me. But no, you'd be wrong apparently."

Stefan's eyebrows shot up at her sarcasm. He didn't say anything for a moment. Then he quietly asked, "Are you all right, Elena?"

It was on the tip of her tongue to have a little rant to his brother at Damon's expense. But she stopped herself before she got going. This was between she and Damon and it would be resolved when he got home. Dragging Stefan into it was unfair to everyone involved and she'd promised Damon before he'd left that she would trust him. No matter how difficult it was or how worried she was, she needed to just trust him.

So she pulled herself together and smiled at Stefan. "I'm fine. Sorry about that. We're fine. Thanks for having a look at the necklace for me. I'll ask Damon about it when he's back." She smoothed the wrinkled fabric on the thighs of her shorts as she stood up, preparing to head back downstairs.

"Elena …"

She stopped in her doorway and turned back to face him again, one eyebrow raised expectantly. He'd taken a seat on the end of her bed. Patting the comforter beside him, he implored, "Come sit down a minute."

Frowning, she lowered herself back down into her desk chair instead. She didn't say anything; she just waited for him to spill what was on his mind. Truthfully, she'd been waiting for this conversation since the day he came back to town.

When he didn't say anything for a while, she eventually became uneasy under his gaze and sighed, "Why did you come back to town, Stefan?" This was the crux of it, after all.

Stefan looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment. "I'm gonna be completely honest with you, Elena. Becoming human again made me rethink everything about myself, about the choices I've made, about the man I was and who I want to be, about how I want to spend the rest of my life."

He paused, as if gathering up courage.

"I came back to see you."


	11. Fall On Me

**A/N** _Thank you to all of you who take a moment to leave me a review. As my friend Chelley likes to say "Reviews are love". haha - it's true! :) Special thanks to CreepingMuse for her beta-ing help & suggestions with this one. I strongly recommend you read her stuff - she's so good! Okay, here we go ...  
_

* * *

**Chapter 11 – Fall On Me**

"I came back to see you."

Elena raised one curious eyebrow at Stefan. "Why?"

His lips twitched and those familiar furrows appeared across his forehead.

"Stefan, you asked me to sit back down. Obviously you want to tell me something. Out with it." She didn't know how much patience she had for this conversation right now. There were other things on her mind tonight.

He sighed and met her gaze. "Are you happy, Elena?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I just got the job offer I've been waiting for since I graduated. Of course I'm happy. Nervous as all hell - but happy. Don't I seem happy to you?"

"Not _that_," he dismissed her comments. "I know you're excited about that. I mean, are you happy … are you happy with your love life?"

Elena frowned, "Are you asking me if I'm happy with Damon? Because, honestly Stefan, that's not really a conversation I'm comfortable having with you." She started to get up again, but his next words caused her to fall back into the chair once more.

"You don't seem it."

She blew out a quick exhalation and replied, "I'm just a little upset with him for leaving without telling me anything. It's fine. We'll talk it out when he gets back and everything will be back to normal. You don't need to worry about us."

"I _am_ worried about you, Elena. I assume you've given thought to your future. Have you changed your mind about turning some day?"

Her brows shot up again. "Again, Stefan, not really wanting to discuss that with you."

"You haven't, have you?" His voice was softer. '"You want to stay human. Have children of your own one day, like Bonnie?"

An irritated look flashed across her face. Elena suddenly understood exactly where he was going with this. God, she was being dense. Of course. His return to Mystic Falls made much more sense now. Goddamn him! How could he possibly have known how much she'd been dwelling lately on those very issues?

"You came back to see me. You said you came back to see me. You wanted to see if I was still human or if I'd been turned – is that it?" she asked incredulously.

He opened his mouth to answer but she steamrolled right over it, her voice growing agitated. "You wanted to find out if, now that you're human, it meant you had a chance with me again? To offer me a Salvatore that I could have babies with? Did you seriously think I'd just drop Damon like a hot potato and go running back into your arms? Do you really think that little of me? You obviously don't know me at _all_."

She stopped to take a breath and he seized his opportunity. "Elena, that's not what –"

"The _hell_ it isn't, Stefan. It's _exactly _what you meant. What about your brother? Where does he enter into any of this? I'll tell you - he doesn't, that's what. For you, this isn't about Damon at all. Or Katherine, who you supposedly love. It's about me." Elena stood up and took a step toward him. "But mostly, it's about you."

He sighed heavily. "I just had to know, Elena. If there was any chance for us. I knew I was taking a risk of losing everything, but I just had to come and see." His eyes were downcast.

"Well you came. And you've seen. _God_, how could you be so _selfish_, Stefan? As much as I hate that bitch for all the damage she's caused in the past, she loves you – and look how you've just treated her? And your brother—" Her voice caught in her throat for a moment. More quietly she asked, "Does he know why you came back?"

He flicked his eyes up to meet hers again. "We've talked, yes."

Elena recalled the underlying worry and frustration she'd felt from Damon since Stefan had returned to town. Some of that was about the future of their relationship, sure, but she now understood so much better what else he was worried about. _Damn_ Damon and all his insecurities and how stupidly he tended to react to them. _Damn_ Stefan for thoughtlessly throwing them all back in his face again. They'd been repeating this painful pattern for far too long.

_Fucking Salvatores_ _– could they be any more dysfunctional?_

She kept her tone even and firm. "Stefan, I love him. I used to love you, but – I'm sorry – I don't anymore. Not in that way, anyway. It's Damon for me now and it will be Damon for me always. Nothing's gonna change that. Do you understand?"

"Of course, Elena. I didn't come back to hurt either of you, honest." He stood up and moved towards the doorway.

She got up, too, but she wasn't quite done yet. "You haven't hurt us. You _can't_ hurt us, not anymore. You're family and we love you and that's not gonna change. The person you've probably hurt, though – maybe you should speak to her?"

His warm green eyes pierced her as he contemplated her words. "Maybe you're right, Elena. Maybe I _have_ been selfish. But none of this is about Katherine. It's because … because I realized I'd been given this incredible _gift_. This second chance to live a human life, to grow up."

"And I'm happy for you about that. Really. You can still do those things, Stefan – if that's what you really want now. But not with me as your partner," she told him softly.

"I know. I'm sorry." He turned to leave.

"I'm sorry, too. Goodnight."

* * *

After he left, Elena found herself lying in bed staring at the ceiling. She thought about Stefan and what he had said. She was angry with him, partially for being a presumptuous ass, but mostly for giving his brother even more reason to feel inadequate - and the last thing Damon needed was yet another reason to think that he wasn't good enough for her.

At the same time she also knew that, to Stefan, deep down she simply represented the human version of the woman he had loved his entire life. She always had, even if he'd never willingly admitted it.

She thought about Katherine and some of the difficult choices she'd had to make in order to survive. Even though their personalities were so vastly different, Elena felt like she sort of understood some of her doppelganger's motivations.

She thought about Bonnie and all the dramatic changes in her life that would soon take place. About the tough decisions she, too, had recently made. Sometime this fall Elena would have a sweet little niece or nephew to spoil and she could hardly wait to hold them in her arms.

She thought about Caroline and how well she'd adapted to all the curveballs life had thrown at her. Such huge changes had been thrust upon her over the past five years. About how strong, self-assured and dependable she was and how very lucky Elena was to have her as a friend.

But mostly she thought about Damon and what he meant to her. About the kinds of things she wanted for the two of them. She thought about her future and she knew without a shadow of a doubt now that she wanted to spend it with him. She could never ask for more than the everything he unconditionally gave her every day.

Her eyes went wide as she became overwhelmed by a sudden epiphany.

Without hesitation, she leapt off her bed, threw a few things into her knapsack and headed down the stairs to her car.

* * *

Damon hated waiting. And Katherine always seemed to be fashionably late. It was annoying, but predictable.

He paced a track in the carpet in front of the huge street-side window of the front lobby of his hotel, impatient for his former lover and her witch doctor to arrive. When he saw the black limousine finally pull up outside, he stopped moving and his shoulders tensed up. His trademark lopsided smirk curved his lips.

"Overture, curtain, lights. This is it, the night of nights," he sang softly to himself._  
_

He sauntered over to stand in front of Katherine as she pushed through the lobby doors to collect him.

"Where's the shaman?" he demanded, looking around her.

"In the car. You ready?" She looked eager to get this over with. He felt the same way.

"As ready as I'll ever be," he replied tersely.

She pivoted on her heels to go back outside but Damon stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and arched one dark brow at him.

"I need you to do something for me," he began.

"Aren't I already?"

He abruptly handed her an envelope. "If anything should happen to me – if this doesn't work – I need you to get this to Elena. Will you do that?"

Katherine looked down at the off-white rectangle, then back up to meet his intense gaze. She closed her perfectly manicured fingertips over it. "What's the magic word, Damon?" she teased.

Damon sighed and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. _I've hit rock bottom. I've been reduced to begging Katherine fucking Pierce._

"_Please_, Katherine. There - you happy now? I'm playing nice," he gritted out.

She tucked the envelope inside her leather jacket. "You have my word." Then she pushed her way through the revolving lobby door and out into the darkening Sydney afternoon. Large thunderclouds appeared to be moving in off the ocean.

"When has _that_ ever meant anything?" he grumbled as he followed after her. _Putting all my trust in the hell-bitch that's screwed me over how many times? I must be out of my fucking mind._

With one final sweep of his gaze across the facade of the hotel behind him, he climbed into the back of the limo to meet the man who was going to change his future.

* * *

Elena turned off the ignition of her car in front of the darkened boarding house. She was relieved to note that Stefan's Porsche wasn't parked along the pavement. That didn't mean it wasn't in the garage, but the house appeared to be completely unlit. She crossed her fingers that he wasn't home.

Everything was silent and still as she stepped out of her vehicle. Even the air didn't seem to move. It was heavy and damp with the dew that would soon gather on all the leaves and blades of grass as the night cooled off. The only sound as she walked up to the large wooden front door was her sneakers scuffing against the paved walkway. She felt calm and collected as she put her key in the keyhole.

Fumbling for the light switch as she entered the pitch-black foyer, she then stood still and listened intently. All she could hear was the ticking of the grandfather clock in the large drawing room adjacent. Otherwise the massive house was as silent as a tomb.

"Stefan?" she tentatively called out. No reply. Thank God for small favours.

Elena made her way upstairs to Damon's room and flung her knapsack onto his huge four-poster bed. She pulled open the drawer in his nightstand and dug for the small brown ring box she knew he had tucked in the back. When her fingers closed on it, she carefully extracted the box and pushed the crowded drawer closed.

Opening it gently, she gazed in awe at the beautiful and delicate ring nestled inside. She was no jewelry expert, but she would bet her last dollar that this ring was part of a matched set with the necklace. Briefly she wondered if there had been a bracelet and earrings at one point, too, and if they still existed. It might be fun to try and track them down.

Her fingers trembled ever so slightly as she pulled the ring out of its silk crevice and pushed it firmly into place on the third finger of her left hand. Guiltily, she knew tradition dictated that it should really be Damon sliding it on for her, but he wasn't here and she really needed to wear it right now. He would understand.

It was a perfect fit.

In the glow of the lamp on the nightstand she carefully examined the ring, twisting her fingers back and forth to catch the light. Its beauty took her breath away. The sapphires were such a rich, vibrant blue. _Just like his eyes._

Her emotions began to overtake her. One hand flew to her mouth to stifle a sob and she quickly wiped away the traces of tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes. No more tears. This night was not a night for them. It was a night for new beginnings, for excitement. And she _was_ excited.

She picked up her knapsack, slung it over one shoulder and, with one final glance around the neat and elegant room, walked out the door.

* * *

The limousine pulled up in front of a large warehouse in what looked to be a sketchy part of the city. Out climbed Damon, Katherine and Jerry – yes, her oh-so-talented shaman friend had just been introduced to him as "Jerry". How the fuck was he supposed to trust his life in the hands of some dude named Jerry?

Damon noticed the car didn't wait around; it quickly drove off into the distance within seconds of them disembarking.

He silently contemplated the huge black-painted metal door in front of them as Katherine went to slide it open. The three walked inside, two of them easily able to see their way in the dim lighting, the third electing to turn on a pocket flashlight to guide his steps.

"What is this place?'" Damon asked.

"I keep space here, in the loft," Jerry replied without elaboration.

Neither vampire said anything more. When they reached the foot of a narrow metal staircase, the shaman turned to them. His black eyes shone brightly, even in the dim light.

"Wait here a moment. I just need to get some things from upstairs, then we'll go out back and get started." The small man clomped swiftly up the steps.

"Out back?" Damon asked in a low voice, once Jerry was out of human hearing range.

Katherine just shrugged. "You _do_ know how this has to start, right? I mean – do I need to spell it out for you?"

Damon gave her a terse look. "No, I got it." He shuddered involuntarily. This was going to be the really-not-fun bit. But he'd come too far now and he wasn't about to chicken out. At this point he just wanted it over with.

* * *

Elena walked through the forest that lay behind the Salvatore estate, the narrow beam of a small flashlight dancing back and forth in front of her to help ensure that she didn't trip and go flying head over heels along the small path.

It may have been quiet around the boarding house before, but back here among the trees it was anything but. The sounds of nighttime critters surrounded her. Crickets chirped in all directions. Their chorus would ebb and flow along the path, announcing her approach and departure to all and sunder. Now and then she would pick up the unmistakable sound of an owl hooting – usually in the distance, but twice she was startled to realize it was nearly overhead.

She wondered how many other woodland creatures watched her quietly pass by from the shadows, how many predator's night-vision eyes tracked her movements as she went.

Elena wasn't scared though; if anything she was steadfast and determined.

In the distance she could hear the rumble of Mystic Falls - the waterfall, not the town. Little by little the sound grew louder as she hiked and she knew her destination wasn't very far off now.

* * *

The vampires followed the shaman along a rough dirt path into the large empty lot behind the warehouse. Strictly speaking, it wasn't empty at all. There may not have been any buildings, but there were plenty of trees to provide cover. But it was quiet and secluded, that was the important part.

Damon glanced up at the sky again. An hour ago it had been warm and sunny. Now the late afternoon was dull and felt more like twilight. The entire horizon above him was filled with ominous-looking dark clouds. From the direction of the harbour he could hear low rumblings of thunder in the distance, but getting closer. The storm was still out over the ocean, but it wouldn't be long now before it made its way inland. He could already sense the building electricity in the atmosphere. It was going to be one hell of a boomer. He wondered idly if he'd get to see it or not.

Jerry beckoned him over to the centre of a clearing that seemed to be naturally formed among the trees. There was a circular scorched patch of earth in the middle. Obviously the shaman had used this particular area of ground for rituals before.

The birdsong overhead came to an abrupt halt and the sky chose that moment to open up. Sharp pellets of water began to pelt down onto them.

Jerry raised his voice over the sudden noise of the rain and yelled direction to Damon to move to the centre of the circle. Katherine watched with interest from the edge of the clearing, wrapping her arms around herself as rivulets of water began to track false tears down her cheeks.

The shaman lit fire to the edge of the circle and the perimeter erupted instantly into bright yellow flames at least four feet high. He then began to chant in a language that neither vampire was familiar with.

Within the fiery ring, Damon groaned and grabbed his head, falling to his knees as the first onslaught of pain hit him.

* * *

Elena arrived at the same clearing that Damon had brought her to all those weeks ago and tossed her pack down at the foot of a massive oak tree. Her ears were filled with the wet roar of the nearby waterfall. The thundering sound of all that liquid pounding into the sharp rocks at the base of the cliff focused her entire mind for a moment. Her clothing, hair and skin were already damp from the mist that saturated this whole area. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was absolutely invigorating.

She crouched down beside the tree trunk and reached into the knapsack, pulling out a small jar with a cork stopper. Miniscule beads of moisture immediately formed across the surface of the glass. In the artificial glow from her flashlight she could see that it was filled with a dark liquid. It was blood. Damon's blood.

Tugging out the cork, she slipped it into her shorts pocket and held the vessel tightly in her hands, the metal of the ring on her finger making low scraping sounds against the glass. She brought it up to her nose and sniffed at the small opening. It smelled strongly of copper, of course, but there were also other notes below that. She couldn't identify them exactly, but there was something sweet, like vanilla perhaps. And something tangy like the zest of an orange when you tear off that first bit of peel. She knew realistically that she should be repulsed by the smell of blood - and normally she was - but not by Damon's. His was different. It always had been, to her. Literally everything about him was extraordinary.

A sudden feeling of nervousness hit her, but it passed quickly. She made a conscious decision not to give in to it. Taking a deep breath, she tilted up the small bottle against her mouth and swallowed the thick contents down in two gulps. She licked her lips as she re-corked the now-empty container and tossed it back into the bottom of her knapsack.

Leaving the bag on the ground where it lay, she left the clearing and, with the aid of her trusty light, began to carefully climb the steep ascent of the forested slope beyond the edge of the trees.

That was when she felt the wave of Damon's pain and fear wash over her.

* * *

Katherine watched the proceedings play out in front of her with curiosity. She wasn't sure why Damon was curled up in a ball holding his head in pain. Seeing him tortured didn't bother her all that much, but she had no idea why it was necessary to the process. She knew he had to die; he knew he had to die. That was the bit that a small part of her was dreading. If it didn't work – if the shaman couldn't bring him back – Stefan would never forgive her for her role in this.

Jerry walked over to her, still chanting in his peculiar language that seemed to have a lot of cacophonous grunts and squeals mixed into it. He stretched out one arm, handing her a long, wooden dagger with a wicked point. It was intricately carved with tiny black tribal figures, and in the flicker of the firelight they almost seemed to be dancing along the wet wood. She looked incredulously down at it, then back up to meet his eyes, refusing to take the weapon.

The shaman grabbed her hand and pushed the fancy excuse for a stake into it. He pointed toward the circle of fire, toward Damon. His meaning was clear.

She narrowed her eyes him and shook her head. This was _not_ part of the plan. She wasn't going to be the one to kill Damon.

Jerry glared at her reluctance and broke his concentration for a second.

"Go!" he yelled at her, gesturing again toward the fiery ring and the vampire within, who was still moaning on the ground in agony as the rain poured down on his back.

Seeing the look in the dark-skinned man's eyes as he resumed chanting with even greater intensity, she relented. Lightening flashed overhead as she strode over to the wall of flames surrounding the circle, held her breath for a moment and leaped over them.

* * *

_Damon! _

Elena gasped as the emotions hit her hard and she stumbled down into the sodden, spongy earth just in front of her sneakers. A sharp edged rock bit into her knee and she cried out.

What the hell was going on? The feeling had now passed, but what she'd picked up was fear – strong fear. At first she wondered if it might be her own, but she quickly realized it was him. He was terrified. And as it was there was not one goddamn thing she could do about it except hope for the best.

She steeled her mind and picked herself up, ignoring the pain in her knee that flared as she resumed her climb up the rocky slope.

When she finally reached the top, Elena's clothing was soaked through from the mist and her hair fell around her face in dripping tendrils. She walked out onto the rocky edge of the precipice beside the waterfall and took a seat on the damp rock, kicking her feet out over the edge. She had no way of knowing that four years ago, the man she loved had sat in this exact spot for nearly an entire day, mourning the greatest loss of his very long existence. Even if she had known, it wouldn't have changed anything. Call it coincidence, kismet or fate - it didn't matter. She had come to this place for a reason.

Wrapping an elastic she'd tugged from her back pocket around her wet locks, she raised her face up to the stars twinkling down on her through the mist. Wherever Damon was, she hoped he could see these same stars above him. Recalling that flash of terror that had coursed through her a few minutes ago, she wondered if he was okay. It had given her a weird sort of déja-vu feeling, but she couldn't quite place why. It made her uneasy. She hoped he knew what the hell he was doing. Reaching out through their connection, she sent him all the love she could and prayed like hell that he could feel it and that it might help.

* * *

Katherine crouched down beside Damon's balled up form. She put a hand on his shoulder and bent to whisper into his ear, "I'm sorry."

She rolled him over onto his back on the muddy ground. He stared up at her dully, raindrops beading on his face and pain clouding his crystal-blue eyes. Then his focus cleared and a look of fierce determination took over.

"Make it quick," he breathed.

She clenched the elaborate stake tightly and raised both hands above his chest. A loud crack of thunder shook the ground beneath them and she blamed that for her momentary tremble.

Holding his gaze, Katherine nodded once and made it quick.

* * *

Elena knew the exact moment their connection severed.

She stood up and took a few steps back from the edge of the precipice, the loud rumble of the waterfall all she was focusing on. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, drove her feet forward and hurled herself out into the open. Just as the tips of her sneakers lost contact with the wet rock of the cliff top, she felt it vanish. She had gotten so used to feeling their bond now that it had become like an ingrained part of her. One moment she could sense him, the next he was gone. And it was too late.

Wailing in anguish, she fell through the dark mist. Gravity carried her frail human body down onto the rocks below.

She didn't register any pain; there was only numbness. The roaring noise of the cascading water ceased and silence enveloped her. Her world went black. Her senses felt nothing.

Just calm.

Just peace.

* * *

**A/N2** _Okay, now please put down your pitchforks! I think there's going to be 13 chapters in total. Maybe 14. So, we're not there yet. Stick with me, please!_


	12. It's the End of the World As We Know It

**A/N **_Thank you SO much - obviously you guys must have liked the previous chapter as it has currently garnered a record number of reviews for me! I'm really happy you're all liking this story. Hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. Thank you so, so much to CreepingMuse for beta-ing it for me. You're a rock star. Please review - it totally makes my day!**  
**_

* * *

**Chapter 12 – It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)**

The storm was picking up intensity.

Strong gusts of wind whipped Katherine's drenched hair around her face as she stared down at the body of the vampire on the ground beside her. In the dim light she could see that Damon's skin had turned ashy gray and dark branches of veins had risen to the surface. The finely carved wooden dagger Jerry had given her to use protruded abruptly from his chest. It glistened wetly in the driving rain.

She frowned at the sight; it disturbed her more than she'd thought it would. She turned back toward the shaman.

"What now?" she asked impatiently. The sooner this whole business was over with, the better.

"Bring him inside. I can't do the resurrection spell until the celestial formations are in the right alignment. It will be a few more hours." He began to walk through the downpour back in the direction of the warehouse.

"Are you kidding me? _Hours_?"

He didn't reply.

Katherine sighed in annoyance and lifted up Damon's lifeless body.

* * *

Elena came back to consciousness, not slowly and lazily as you might expect, but with abrupt awareness and a sudden gasp for air that instead drew cold water into her lungs.

Her eyes flew open and she lifted her head above the churning surface of the river, choking out the unpleasant-tasting liquid. She seemed to be wedged between two rocks not far from the grassy bank, which had saved her body from being carried down the river.

Holy hell - the noise of the crashing waterfall directly behind her was deafening! It invaded her brain and made her eardrums ache.

When the swift current jostled her against a boulder, a sharp lance of pain shot up her left arm. Elena looked down and noticed it was twisted at an unnatural angle. Her stomach heaved at the sight and more river water retched out.

Taking a deep breath of fresh air, she examined her body again and frowned. Did she actually die? Or did she just bang the crap out of herself and nearly drown? Cause this was really going to suck if she was merely injured.

She braced herself against a large rock with one hand and held her broken arm up in front of her. Gritting her teeth determinedly, she concentrated and gingerly forced it to straighten out. Crying out in sudden agony, she felt as well as heard the bone snap back into place. She sighed with relief. It'd worked_. _Thankfully the pain began to subside and she swore she could feel the fractured limb repairing itself within her flesh. She stared, fascinated, at her arm for a moment; it was a very peculiar sensation.

Elena suddenly realized that _everything_ from here on out was going to be full of new and peculiar sensations.

Eyes widening in her head, she remembered. _Oh God. Damon!_

Her mind flashed to the shock of their broken connection as she'd fallen from the cliff wall above. Had she really felt it go? Or was her memory just playing tricks on her and it had only severed when she'd drowned? She'd known she would lose it– Isobel's notes clearly stated that the bond could only exist between a vampire and a human. Maybe that was all it was. She needed to get to her phone and contact him.

Once her arm regained its usefulness, she pushed off the rocks towards the sodden embankment and dragged herself onto the shore. Standing up, she stretched the kinks out of all her muscles. She was drenched, scraped, bloodied and bedraggled. Looking down at herself, she amended that list to include muddied, too. But most importantly – she was alive. Maybe not in the traditional sense, but alive none-the-less.

She made her way back to the clearing, sneakers squishing out rivulets of water as she walked, and located the knapsack she'd abandoned under the big oak tree. As her fingernails scraped against the canvas, she became mesmerized for a moment by the rough scratching sound her nail made as it dragged across the damp fabric. She unbuckled the flap and reached inside. It crossed her mind that the flashlight she'd brought remained at the top of the cliff, yet she hadn't even needed it. She could see everything clearly, though the only light available was the faint glow of the moon attempting to permeate the ever-present mist.

Elena dug to the very bottom of the pack and pulled out the blood-bag she had retrieved from the Salvatore's basement refrigerator earlier that night. She could smell the rich, intoxicating fragrance of the blood before she even tore off the top of the tube. The scent assaulted her nostrils like the delicious aroma of her mom's chocolate cake baking in the oven did when she was younger.

She felt a hot, tingling sensation in the flesh around her eyes and a sharp needle-like stinging in her upper jaw as her canines descended for the first time. Salivating, she eagerly sucked the tube into her mouth like a straw and felt the cold, viscous liquid coat her throat like the sweetest honey. Part of her brain screamed at her that this was disgusting, that it was nasty, that she should recoil in horror. But it wasn't and she couldn't. It was heavenly.

Her transition was complete.

The bag was empty before another thought entered her mind. She let it drop to the ground and fell back onto the wet grass, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. Her ears strained to hear other sounds behind the constant roar of the falling water pounding against the rocks.

No more gentle forest sounds surrounded her. No crickets, no owls, no soft movements of night creatures. She could hear every leaf rustle on every tree, pine needles rubbing together along each branch. But she could sense no living, breathing birds or animals - not one. Where had they all disappeared to?

Then realization hit her. She was a predator now. A large predator. She was the equivalent of a wolf or a bear to them. A grin stretched her lips at the thought. She wasn't weak or fragile anymore. She was strong. She was fast. She was a creature to be _feared_.

She, Elena Gilbert, was now immortal. A vampire. Just like Damon.

Pulling her cell phone out of the front pocket the pack, she was frustrated to discover she had no signal out here in the forest. Tendrils of worry began to wind their way into her brain. She needed to know that he was okay. Commanding herself not to freak out unless she was sure she had a good reason to, she hoisted her knapsack to her shoulder and ran back to the boarding house.

* * *

The antique Swiss clock hanging in the hallway outside his room seemed to be ticking louder than usual. It was starting to grate on his last nerve.

Stefan tossed and turned in his bed, trying and failing to find some respite from his thoughts in the form of sleep.

He couldn't stop going over what Elena had said to him earlier that evening. She was right, of course. It had been delusional of him to think he'd stand any chance to reconcile with her now, after all this time. She was probably right about Katherine, too. Did Elena really just represent a human version of Katherine to him? He'd never accepted that accusation before. He'd always sworn his love for her years ago had nothing to do with Katherine. But perhaps he'd been deluding himself all along.

A loud crash from downstairs brought him quickly to his feet. Hurrying down the steps, he found Elena in the drawing room, the drink cart tipped over and broken glass and spilled liquor all over the Persian rug and hardwood floor. When Damon got home he would _not_ be impressed.

At the sight of Stefan, she froze, wide-eyed and panting. Her nostrils flared and her eyes darkened. He frowned as he witnessed the telltale tendrils of dark veins rise up around them. She took one tentative step towards him. Then another. Instinctively, he moved a step backward. Suddenly she turned and blurred out of the room faster than his vision could track. He heard the mansion's back door slam against the paneled wall with a bang that surely left a dent in the wood.

Stefan stared after her in shock for a moment. Then he dashed to the rear of the house.

"Katherine!" he called, stepping out onto the back patio. It was too dark for his eyes to penetrate very far into the gloom. He sighed in frustration. For more than a century he'd taken his enhanced vision for granted, but now it was just one more thing this mortal body prevented him from doing. He scanned the heavily shadowed back lawn, but could detect no sign of her.

_What the hell?_

He yelled for Katherine again, but there was no reply.

Turning to go back into the house to locate his cell phone, he nearly bumped into Caroline as she came around the corner of the building and stopped beside him.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he asked, taking a step back in surprise. "It's the middle of the night!"

"Stefan, I'll take care of this. Go back in the house, please," Caroline requested. Moving past him, she walked to the edge of the patio steps. She cupped one hand to her mouth and called out, "Elena! It's okay - I'm here!"

"Elena?" he questioned, clearly confused. "That's not Elena. That's … wait. _Elena_? You've got to be _kidding _me!"

"Please, just go back in the house. Let me deal with her." Caroline's eyes scanned the darkness as she spoke. Finally she spotted her friend standing by the tree line at the back of the sprawling lawn.

The blonde vampire turned and gave him a quick, imploring look, then sped off into the shadows.

Stefan frowned, processing. Then he went inside to find his phone.

* * *

The noise in the warehouse was loud and echoing as hard rain pounded down onto the metal roof. Katherine was pacing to and fro in one corner of the building. Her frustration was evident – she had the air of a caged wild animal. A damp and increasingly annoyed wild animal.

The shaman was wisely keeping his distance.

"How much longer?" she spat out, for the twelfth or thirteenth time.

"Soon. Very soon," he replied, repeating his same vague answer. She heard his feet clang on the metal steps as he went back upstairs. Probably smart of him.

She just wanted this over with. She needed to know Damon was alive so she could start the process of forgetting today ever happened and moving on with her life. Beginning with a hot shower and followed shortly thereafter with clean, dry clothes and a warm bed.

Her phone buzzed inside her sodden leather jacket. Pulling it out, she looked at the name on the screen. Her eyes narrowed. It was Stefan.

Promptly changing her demeanor from impatience to her usual calm, collected self-assurance, she answered the call.

"Stefan. How's home-sweet-home?" she drawled.

"Katherine, please tell me you're in Mystic Falls right now."

She snorted. "Believe me, if I was in that shitty little godforsaken town right now, you of all people would know about it. I have nothing to hide."

"Damn it." She heard him sigh. "That means Elena has turned since I saw her a few hours ago. And I'm unfortunately not equipped to deal with this any more."

He paused. "You don't happen to know where my brother is, by any chance?"

Katherine's eyes flew to Damon's prone body lying on the floor about fifteen feet away from where she stood. Elena turned? _Fuck! _ He was gonna be royally pissed if … when he came back.

She sighed. Should she come clean with Stefan or not? Finally she decided he would find out soon enough. The shit was going to hit the proverbial fan, either way.

"Yes, Stefan. He's right here."

Instead of questioning why Damon would be with her, Stefan sounded relieved. "Great! Can you put him on? I was gonna call him next, anyway. He needs to get his ass home ASAP."

"That's gonna be a bit of a problem. He's … indisposed … at the moment." She frowned. For how much longer, she had no idea. "Look Stefan, it sounds like you people have another major clusterfuck on your hands right now. I'll let Damon know to call you as soon as he can."

"I really need to talk to him right now, Katherine."

"Well, unfortunately that's not gonna happen. Like I said, I'll have him call." She paused for a moment, contemplating. Then she added, "Do you want me to come back with him?"

_Fuck. That came out sounding way more vulnerable than I meant it to._

Stefan didn't say anything for a long moment. She took that for an answer.

"Gotcha. Goodbye, Stefan"

"Wait. Yes … yes, I do want you to come back. Please." His words rushed out softly.

She didn't make any sound to let him know if she'd heard him or not; she just hung up. She'd ponder the implications of that later. Right now other things needed the forefront of her attention.

Like - Jesus H. Christ - how the _hell_ did her sweet, innocent, little doppelganger manage to get herself turned in the short few days that Damon wasn't there to take care of her? How fucking _useless_ was that girl? Damon was going to lose his shit when he found out.

They needed to get back to Mystic Falls immediately. Before the volatile baby vamp had Stefan for dinner, anyway. _Goddamn it! _

Katherine growled loudly and punched her fist right through the metal wall. Ignoring the fresh blood now coursing down her arm as her torn flesh repaired itself, she yelled, "Jerry! Time to get this show on the road!"

* * *

Elena watched Caroline approach her cautiously.

"Elena? Sweetie? You okay?" her friend asked as she drew closer.

"I think so … I don't know … I wanted to go inside, but when I saw Stefan. When I _smelled_ him … I just … I almost …" Elena stopped and looked down.

"I know, hon. You wanted to bite him." Caroline nodded sympathetically.

"I wanted to tear his throat out," Elena whispered.

"I remember all about it. It will get better but it'll take time. And lots of practice. Damon and I will help you. Where _is_ Damon, anyway?"

Elena looked up and exhaled a small puff of air in frustration. "I have no idea. His phone is turned off."

Caroline frowned. "He doesn't know?"

Elena mutely shook her head.

Her friend just looked at her for a moment. She was about to ask another question when Elena spoke.

"Thanks for rushing over, Care. You think we could go inside? Stefan will be safe now that you're here with me, right?" she asked.

Caroline nodded and reached out to grab her hand. "You're welcome. You know you can count on me."

The girls went into the house and Elena curled up in one of the wing chairs in the drawing room. When Caroline joined her, she glanced sadly at the overturned drink cart.

Elena shrugged and looked apologetic. "Obviously I don't know my own strength yet."

Stefan came into the room carrying two glasses of warm blood for the girls as per Caroline's request. He cautiously set them down on the thick mahogany table, keeping his eyes warily on Elena. Then he moved back to stand in the foyer archway, as far as possible from the new vampire.

Elena couldn't help herself – she stared at him, mesmerized. She could hear every tiny noise emanating from his body - the low gurgle of his stomach, the steady throbbing of his heartbeat, the rushing of that delicious blood through his veins, even the wet rasping sound of his tongue darting out to moisten his dry lips as he cautiously watched her appraise him.

She could smell him, too - nervous sweat and yesterday's cologne and cheap leather and expensive bourbon. Specifically, Damon's bourbon. But most of all, he smelled like blood. She could tell the difference immediately between the bagged blood in the glass in front of her and the incredible, alluring scent of Stefan's fresh blood coursing through him. It called to her like a master would his slave. Demanding, insistent, leaving no room for denial. She was powerless to resist. Rising to her feet, she again sensed the heat around her eyes as the veins rose up and the pinch in her gums as her new fangs descended.

Before Elena could take a step toward him, she felt a strong arm on her shoulder pushing her back down into her chair. She tore her gaze away from Stefan and fixed her eyes on Caroline, who shook her head once. She stared, somewhat dazed, into her friend's serious dark blue eyes and felt herself relax slightly. Taking a deep breath, her face went back to normal.

"Thank you," she whispered, at a volume so low only Caroline would hear. The blonde nodded nearly imperceptibly

Silence filled the large room for a minute as they all took a moment to compose themselves.

Finally Stefan cleared his throat. "Elena, what did you _do_?" he began. "I mean - I know what you did, obviously, but _why_? Was it because of the conversation we had earlier? Please tell me it wasn't because of what I said." His expression begged her to alleviate some of his guilt.

Elena rolled her eyes. "No, Stefan. Our talk merely helped me to see things more clearly. I started to think about my life from another viewpoint and that thought process helped me understand what I really wanted."

Stefan stared at her. "And this," he waved one hand in her direction, "_this_ is what you really wanted?"

"Yes, it is," Elena replied firmly. "Being with Damon forever is what I really want."

At the mention of his name she frowned. "Speaking of which, I still can't reach him."

Stefan perked up slightly. "Actually, I spoke with Katherine not long ago. She said Damon's with her."

Elena looked relieved at first, then her eyes narrowed. "He's with _Katherine_? What the hell? Why is his phone off?"

Stefan made a sudden decision to not share with her that Katherine had told him Damon was 'indisposed'. Elena was volatile enough right now without worrying about what that might mean about his brother. So he simply said, "She promised to have him call as soon as he could."

Caroline looked between the two of them, reading between the lines that some things were being left unsaid. She reached over and grabbed Elena's hand, pasting on a perky smile. "This is good, 'Lena. It means he'll call shortly. And then he'll head straight back home to you as soon as he knows how much you need him."

Elena's eyes flicked up to her friend's again. She downed the rest of her blood and thumped the tumbler back onto the tabletop, sending a crack up the side of the glass in the process. Sighing, she replied, "I sure hope so."

Caroline gave her fingers a squeeze in assurance. Then Elena heard the other girl gasp in surprise. She saw the blonde staring down at her left hand with her mouth hanging open.

"Elena! Something you forgot to tell me? You're wearing the engagement ring!"

* * *

The shaman nervously appraised the gorgeous brunette stalking to and fro by the far wall. He really didn't like being around Katherine when she was this agitated. It made him uncomfortable. And jittery. It was difficult for him to concentrate and make sure everything was as it should be when he wasn't relaxed.

Now she was demanding that he complete the resurrection ritual on the dead vampire immediately. He moved to the back door of the warehouse and looked out into the night. The unrelenting rain drove down. Thunder continued to rumble and lightning continued to sporadically illuminate the cool Australian evening. The storm showed absolutely no sign of letting up anytime soon.

As Katherine glared daggers at him from across the large room, Jerry looked down at his watch. Emitting a small sigh, he decided it was close enough.

"Okay," he called to her over the pummeling racket of the downpour. "We can begin now."

Her tension visibly went down a notch and she walked up to Damon's immobile form.

"Please tell me we can do this part of it inside?"

The shaman opened his mouth to say they needed to take him back out to the dirt circle. Then he re-appraised Katherine's expression and demeanor and he quickly closed it again. Locating a hunk of charcoal, he began to rub a wide black ring onto the concrete floor. This would have to do for tonight. He would hose it down later.

"Bring the body into the middle of the circle, please," he asked her when he'd finished.

Katherine grabbed the shoulders of his leather jacket and roughly dragged Damon into position, then stepped away and leaned against one cool metal wall, crossing her arms over her chest. She had no intention of getting directly involved with this particular ceremony.

Jerry hastily repaired the part of the line that the vampire's body had smudged, then moved to kneel beside him. He grasped the large wooden dagger with both hands and, using all his strength, managed to extract it from Damon's chest. Carefully he placed the weapon on the outside of the circle.

He unbuttoned Damon's torn black shirt and pulled the fabric away to each side, baring his damaged chest. Picking up a jar filled with dark red fluid, he used his fingertips to draw intricate symbols across the dead vampire's exposed skin.

Rocking back onto his heels, the small shaman surveyed his work. Nodding to himself, he stood up and went to retrieve a second bottle, this time with clear liquid sloshing inside. He uncorked it and began to walk around the outside of the circle, chanting softly to himself and occasionally flicking a scattering of droplets onto Damon's body.

Katherine observed with focused interest from the sidelines.

Jerry's chanting increased in volume exponentially as he moved faster around the black circle. When at last the bottle was empty, he stopped and fell back to his knees again. Lifting his face and arms into the air, he began to shout out what sounded like a complex incantation.

The impatient vampire perked up slightly as she recognized this bit. She remembered him doing this same process over her poor Stefan's body only a couple of months ago.

Studying Damon's face closely, she searched it for any sign of life.

No movement. No change. He still looked dead as a doornail.

Katherine frowned, but said nothing.

The shaman flipped his eyes once to her anxiously, then began the incantation again, yelling even more loudly to the heavens. The drumming of the rain on the roof seemed to increase in volume in concert with his voice.

Again, nothing happened.

Well, almost nothing. It was incredibly noisy in there and if Jerry hadn't happened to glance behind him nervously at Katherine once again, he wouldn't have noticed. But he couldn't stop himself from checking how she was reacting to his second failure, so he did.

She was slouched in a heap on the floor, appearing to be sound asleep. He tilted his head as he studied her for a moment - this development definitely seemed odd. He wasn't close enough to tell for sure what had happened, nor did he intend to move any closer right now. If the spell worked, he'd check on her later. If not, he'd make tracks as far away as possible before she woke up.

Narrowing his eyes, the shaman turned his attention back to Damon. Something was happening. The resurrection hadn't occurred yet, but there was definitely magic thickening the air. He could feel it. Every hair on his body was trying to stand on end.

He raised his arms toward the ceiling and began to cry out the words one last time. The power was building around him; with every second that passed he could sense the increasing static electricity. The air felt viscous to breathe.

Just as he got to the end of the chant again, an incredibly loud crack of thunder shook the roof, the walls and even the very foundation below him. An intense flash of lightning simultaneously flared. Then everything was plunged into darkness as the power went out in the warehouse.

* * *

The storm had finally abated and the rain tapered off. An eerie silence held court for a time.

Then there was movement in the pitch black. Rough scraping against concrete. A groan. A sharp intake of breath. The sound of a body shifting. A gasp.

A raspy woman's voice, clearly furious. "You've _got_ to be fucking _kidding_ me!"

"Katherine?" A man's, quiet and rough.

The narrow beam of a flashlight pierced the darkness. Blue eyes squinted in its path. As it swept along the wall a hand lifted, palm out, to block the glare.

"Damon?"

A muffled cough. "Yeah."

More shuffling sounds.

"Are you …?"

"Yeah." A sigh of relief. "Thank fuck."

A beat of silence.

"Jerry – your fucking spell fucking backfired again!" the woman wailed.

A second man's voice, deeper, more resonating than the previous one. "Why? What's wrong?"

A snarl of unbridled rage filled the darkness. "I'm human, too!"


	13. Everybody Hurts

**A/N **_Thank you, thank you for all your sweet reviews and favourite story adds! I appreciate them all so, so much! You guys make my day.  
_

_Also super-huge Thank You to CreepingMuse for betaing this chapter. Her advice is always incredibly appreciated. She's one of the most talented writers I know. When you're done this chapter, please go read her stories. You'll thank her for them! Okay, here goes. Please let me know what you think by leaving me a review at the bottom.  
_

* * *

**Chapter 13 – Everybody Hurts**

The power returned several minutes later. The overhead lights flickered, then came back on with a low humming sound.

Damon was sitting up with his arms flung loosely around his knees, still in the center of the charcoal circle. He blinked and waited for his now-weakened eyes to adjust to the light. Everything was blurry. He felt like tiny demons were jack-hammering against the inside of his too-tight skull, and his muscles ached all over. He couldn't remember the last time his body had protested so loudly against the abuse he'd put it through. Groaning, he scrubbed one hand over his face and through his hair.

Squeezing his eyes tightly closed, he took a deep breath. Then he lifted his head and attempted to focus his gaze on Katherine. She was sitting against the wall opposite him, her knees pulled up to her chest, her face pressed into them and her hands locked behind her neck. A few minutes before, she had finally ceased her angry tirade at the shaman and was now just sitting quietly in impotent frustration.

Pushing himself up, he walked over and slid his back down the wall, coming to a rest next to her. She didn't raise her head.

Jerry had assured them over and over that he no idea why the spell had impacted Katherine, too. He had his back turned to them and was speaking quietly into his phone. Hanging up, he walked over to the two former vampires.

"The car will be here in a few minutes to take you both back to your hotel." He paused and looked straight at Katherine, who hadn't yet lifted her head. "Again, I'm sorry." Recognizing there was little more he could say or do, he turned and went upstairs.

Finally she raised her face, looking after him as his footfalls echoed off the metal steps. She opened her mouth and Damon braced his throbbing head against the anticipated onslaught of more obscenities. Instead, she turned to him. "You need to call Elena. Stat."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "I was planning on it. Any particular reason you're telling me this?"

She buried her face in her knees again. "Just do it," came the muffled reply.

Before he could retrieve his phone from his sodden leather jacket pocket, a car horn honked outside. Their limo had arrived.

* * *

After Caroline had finally finished oohing and awing over the ring, Elena glanced up to realize that Stefan had at some point slipped out of the room. She guessed that wasn't too surprising, for multiple reasons.

Her phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket. Pulling it out, her eyes widened in excitement as she saw Damon's name appear on the small screen.

Eagerly, she answered the call. "Damon?"

Out of the corner of her eye Elena saw Caroline blur out of the room to give her some privacy.

The connection was crackly and his voice was faint, but she could hear him as clearly as if he was standing right beside her.

"Are you okay, Elena? Katherine said to call you right away." He sounded anxious.

"Damon – I swear I felt our bond break. Did something happen to you? And why are you with _her_?" She held completely still, waiting for his response.

He didn't reply at first, but she could hear his even breathing as he formulated his answer. She heard something else, soft and steady. A heartbeat. Someone was standing close to him.

"Look, I need you to understand why I couldn't tell you. You would never have let me go through with it." His voice was low, pleading.

"Go through with _what_, Damon? What did you _do_?" Those panicky tendrils quickly tightened their suffocating grip around her mind again. She grew frantic. "Please tell me what you did!"

"Elena, it's okay. Really. I'm okay. I just …" He switched to a different tactic. "You remember what Stefan told us went down with Katherine's witch doctor?"

She thought about the story Stefan had related to them that morning all those weeks ago. And suddenly she realized exactly what he'd done.

The ramifications of it hit her full force. Her heightened emotions overwhelmed her and fat tears started to course down her cheeks. Without realized it she squeezed the phone in her hand so tightly she caught the sound of plastic cracking. Somehow she managed to force herself to remain functional and not throw the device against the wall in the face of her incredible fury and heartbreak.

"Elena?" Now he was very worried. "Are you crying? Why are you crying? Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

She sniffled. "Yes, I got it. _God_, Damon, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because there's no way you'd _ever_ have let me take the risk. But it worked!" His voice grew soft and emotional. "I'm human again."

The only response was a fresh volley of sobs.

"This is a great thing for us, Elena. Now we can have the future together we've both always dreamed of." He paused. "I don't understand why you're so upset."

"If only you'd told me!" she wailed. "You should have told me!"

"Why do you keep saying that? What's going on? Did something happen?" The knot of fear and worry in his stomach was increasing the more she wept.

Then Elena detected Katherine's irritated voice in background. "You're both fucking idiots. You turned human for her – she vamped for you. Shame neither of you bothered to talk to the other first."

Damon was silent.

Elena only cried harder.

At last he spoke, softly and levelly, "Please, for the love of Christ, Elena, tell me that's not true."

She knew from the tone of his words that he realized it was. When she didn't answer right away, his tone grew demanding. "Elena? Is it true? What did you _fucking_ _do_? Shit, you used the blood that I gave you, didn't you? How could you not tell me?" His voice cracked and he fell quiet again.

"Yes it's true," she finally choked out. "I did it because I love you and I want to spend forever with you. And don't you _dare_ have the nerve to ask me why I didn't talk to you first. For the same reason you didn't tell me. But you've obviously had this all planned for a long time now. I only decided last night."

She whispered brokenly, "I thought it was right. Thought you'd be happy."

Again, Damon was silent for what seemed like a very long time.

When at last he spoke, all he said was, "I'm on my way home."

* * *

Damon had barely said two words to Katherine since he'd ended the call with Elena. When she'd informed him that she was returning to Mystic Falls with him, he'd just accepted it with an annoyed look, but no comment.

They'd sat in stony silence in the departure lounge and the minute she'd settled in beside him on the plane, he'd regretted not asking for separate seats. He didn't want to make small talk or any other type of talk with her right now. Luckily she appeared to be in an introspective mood herself.

That thought brought a tiny smile to his face. _Misery loves company._ And holy shit was Katherine Piece miserable about her new-found mortality. She'd be forced to deal with normal human issues like slow healing and weakness and – God forbid – _aging_. Elena was now the vampire and Katherine was the human. _Man_, that must really burn her ass. As much as he was truly horrified about Elena's situation, Damon had to repress a chuckle at the thought of Katherine's.

After the seatbelt sign went off, the flight attendant came by with the drink cart. He leaned over to her and ordered scotch on the rocks, times three. It wouldn't help with his massive headache but it might just take the edge off his roiling thoughts enough to allow him to pass out. It quickly became obvious that his being mortal again had not reduced his effect on the opposite sex. The woman was obviously flirting with him as she handed him tiny bottle after tiny bottle, batting her long lashes and smiling brazenly while studiously ignoring Katherine. He kept his replies succinct and flashed her his signature smirk. Katherine flicked her glare between the two of them, before outright interrupting to demand her own drink order.

Damon poured one bottle over the ice in his plastic cup and gulped it down immediately. He closed his eyes and relished the intense burning sensation as it coated his throat and created a small ball of fire in his belly. Briefly, he wondered what getting drunk as a human would be like now. It had been way too long for him to really remember. He wryly hoped he wouldn't get sick. That would really suck on a long, crowded flight. Frowning, he opened his eyes and considered the alcohol in the two remaining little bottles sitting on his drop-down tray. Perhaps he should pace himself a bit.

Yeah, fuck that. He quickly downed the other two shots, pressed his head back and shut his eyes again. The intense throbbing in his skull that he'd awakened with hours ago had only gotten worse, and the two Tylenol he'd swallowed in the boarding lounge had done little so far to ease the pressure. All he really wanted to do was sleep.

And sleep he did. At one point he found himself drifting through a dream about the year leading up to his human death, back in 1864. Dredging up melancholy memories about falling in love with a beautiful and passionate vampire girl. About being forced to share her with Stefan. About always being considered secondary to his brother and to everyone he'd ever known since the day his mother died. About never feeling good enough, never feeling wanted, never feeling like he would amount to anything, never making anyone proud.

Damon awoke with a start, dismayed to find himself drenched in sweat and breathing erratically. He glanced over at Katherine and was relieved to find her asleep in her seat.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to clear his mind of the cobwebby remnants of the muddled dream. One thing he knew though - he wasn't sure how well he could deal with being human and in love with a vampire again, especially one who just happened to wear the same face as the previous one. Stefan might be out of the equation at this point, but he still knew that he would never be able to keep up with her now. Or live up to what she deserved in a partner. Not like this. His hands squeezed into tight fists along the plastic armrests.

He wanted to be human – he'd wanted his mortality back for as long as he could remember. Was he willing to go back to being an undead creature now, after he'd finally been granted his wish? Damon sighed softly and forced his fingers to relax so he wouldn't cut his palms. He stared unseeingly out the small plastic window into the dark clouds. That was the million-dollar question, wasn't it?

* * *

Caroline hadn't been able to get Elena to stop crying since her friend had gotten off the phone with Damon. Elena had stubbornly refused to explain why she was so distraught and Caroline had eventually convinced her to go to bed. Exhausted, she had also turned in for the morning – the sun was already rising - in the closest guest bedroom to the new vampire so she could hear her if she needed help.

Elena lay on her side, curled up in a ball in the middle of Damon's large bed. Tears still coursed down her cheeks, making a damp spot on the pillow below. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut and all she could smell was him. His scent permeated the entire room and completely enveloped her, mind, body and soul.

She thought feeling close to him like this would help to relax her, but tonight it was having the opposite effect. It was only making her sadder.

What would happen when Damon got back? God, what if she attacked him, the way she nearly attacked Stefan? He wouldn't be able to come to Philadelphia with her. Hell, _she_ probably couldn't go now, either. Would they have to have Caroline between them until she could get a handle on her bloodlust? No private talks or intimate moments? No sleeping in the same bed – _this_ bed – for weeks or months or, God forbid, maybe _years_? They desperately needed to discuss everything right now, but she knew she wouldn't be able to trust herself around him for a while. What if she slipped up? What if she even _killed_ him? She'd never be able to forgive herself. They'd have to have private conversations over the phone. No touching. No lovemaking. How long could they survive that?

What the _hell_ had she gone and done? What had he? Why couldn't they just trust each other enough to talk important decisions out before making them? What was _wrong_ with them? Maybe they'd gotten exactly what they deserved.

What were those things he'd said to her a few weeks ago, while lying together in her bed?

_There are solutions to every problem. _

_Together we can work through anything. _

_As long as we communicate with each other and we trust each other._

If only they'd both listened to that last bit of wisdom, neither of them would be in the place they were in right now. Were they even salvageable now?

A fresh flood of sobbing began.

* * *

This time, Damon had remembered to ask the attendant at the departure desk for a single seat by the window, so that he wouldn't be forced to endure Katherine's presence for the second leg of the journey.

After sitting down, he squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his forehead against the cool plastic window shade. His invasive headache had lessened somewhat, but it still refused to relinquish its grasp on his poor aching brain.

He heard the sound of new arrivals settling into the two empty seats beside him. A woman quietly asked an excited child to keep her voice down because the man beside them was 'asleep'. Grimacing slightly to himself, he realized the girl had taken the seat right next to him. He wondered if there was any chance he could succeed in sleeping for the entire five and half hours until they landed in Los Angeles.

Damon eased his eyes open a narrow strip, and from the corner of them he could see the child looking at him intently. Repressing a sigh, he opened his eyes the rest of the way and shifted his body to look back at her.

She was about five or six years old. Her open, expressive face was framed by long, straight, chestnut-coloured hair. Huge blue eyes peering out below thick, dark lashes stared back at him. Damon had never really paid much attention to children before, but he had to admit she was a captivatingly cute little thing.

"Hi," she said, flashing a brilliant smile filled with small white teeth at him. He'd bet that smile had all the boys at school wrapped around her tiny little finger.

Damon couldn't help grinning back at her. "Hi, yourself."

"What's your name?" she asked brightly. It suddenly occurred to him that she probably looked a lot like Elena might have at that age. Except with blue eyes. Like his. His stomach clenched at the thought.

Forcing his pleasant expression not to falter, he took a breath and answered, "Damon. What's yours?"

"Libby. My mommy and I are going home to see Daddy. I miss him. Where are you going?"

"To see my …" He hesitated. _Vampire girlfriend_ just seemed like the wrong thing to say in this moment. "Home," he amended. "I'm going home, too."

And no matter what awaited him when he got there, he knew it was true.

* * *

A pounding at the bedroom door wrested Elena from a deep sleep. Gah! Her head seemed to be hammering in time with the fist against the wood.

She attempted to ignore the interruption, pulling a second pillow over her head and snuggling deeper under the blankets.

A few seconds later she heard Caroline's muffled voice from the other side of the door. "Elena? Can we come in please?"

_We_? Fuck, no. She didn't even feel up to just Care at the moment.

A wave of nausea washed over her when she attempted to sit up. Falling back onto the pillow, she squeezed her eyes tightly shut and attempted to get a handle on her queasy stomach.

"Go away!" she groaned loudly.

The door hinges creaked and a single set of footsteps entered the room. Someone, presumably Caroline, sat down on the edge of the bed and put a warm hand on her arm.

"Elena? C'mon, wake up. You all right? I'm sorry but this couldn't wait. I need to talk to you."

Elena sighed deeply and wrenched her eyes open, finding herself face to face with her friend, who seemed to be studying her meticulously.

Pushing herself back into a sitting position against the pillows, she frowned. "What's going on?" Her eyes flicked to Stefan who was leaning against the doorframe, still obviously keeping distance between them. _Good. So he should._

Caroline glanced toward the large window. She pushed herself off the side of the bed and walked over to it, tugging the thick curtain open a few feet. Sunlight poured into the room and across the oak paneled floor, stopping just before it touched the bedspread.

"Hey!" Elena's brows drew tightly together and she shuffled closer to the far side of the bed, though the sun's rays were nowhere close to her body. Didn't her friend remember that she didn't have a daylight ring yet?

Speaking of daylight rings, Caroline was currently removing her own. She dropped it onto the top of Damon's dresser.

Elena stared at her in confusion. "What the hell are you doing?"

Caroline turned her face to smile at her. "Watch this." She plunged her arm directly into the beam of sunlight.

Elena cringed, anticipating the scream and the smell of burning flesh. But nothing happened.

"Oh my God, Care! So you got a new piece of jewelry from Bonnie? Hell of a way to demonstrate! Why couldn't you just say so?" Elena was clearly annoyed.

"I'm not wearing any jewelry. I just woke up this morning and … I have no idea what happened, but it doesn't seem like I'm a vampire anymore." She came over to sit back on the edge of the bed and looked at Elena.

Elena just gaped at her. "_What_? How is that possible?"

"I don't know. I just got off the phone with Tyler and, strangely, he also seems to be human again. Although he said he feels like a freight train hit him. I woke up feeling like shit this morning, too. Like I'd just come off a bender." She paused, looking pointedly at her friend. "You don't look so great yourself right now. So how about you? Are you back to normal again?"

Elena swallowed. She'd only been a vampire for a few hours – she didn't have a firm grip on what it all meant yet. She closed her eyes and tried to focus solely on Stefan, like she had last night. Could she still hear his heartbeat thumping and his blood rushing? Could she still smell everything about him so clearly?

Maybe it was just the nausea dulling her senses, but it didn't seem like she could.

Elena opened her eyes and looked over to Caroline, puzzled. "Hmm. Maybe not."

Before either of them could reply, she'd slid across the bed and onto the floor nearest the window. God, it felt like it hurt every part of her just to move right now! Tentatively, she inched one finger into the beam of sunlight. Her face was scrunched up, anticipating the burning pain.

Nothing happened.

Dropping her arm to her side, she turned to Stefan and Caroline, restraining the smile that begged to escape. "I guess I'm human again, too. So what happened to us? Have you called Bonnie yet?" _And thank God. Thank God. Thank God. Maybe this whole horrorshow can be over now. Just as soon as Damon gets home._

"I'm off to call her now. I don't know what this means, but my assumption is that it's something good, for once. Grab a shower and meet us downstairs." With that Caroline brushed past Stefan and disappeared out the door.

He tilted his head at her, watching her closely for a moment.

Elena didn't give him a chance to speak. "I'm fine, Stefan. And once I take something for this headache, I'll be even better." She paused and lines of concern etched across her forehead. "I'm sorry about last night."

Stefan gave her a tight-lipped grin. "No worries, Elena. I know you didn't want to hurt me."

_Oh, how very wrong you are about that, Stefan. I definitely did._

He turned to go, then stopped and glanced back. "Just for the record, I'm glad you're human, again. I'm sure my brother will be, too." Then he closed the door behind him, leaving a perplexed but incredibly relieved Elena still sitting on the bed.

* * *

Elena took her time in the shower, moving slowly and carefully as every muscle in her body seemed to ache. When eventually she was clean and dressed, the pounding in her head at last began to lessen and she started to feel a little more like her old self.

She made up the bed, then looked around the tidy room at all of Damon's things and wondered if he'd be home tonight. Flicking her eyes to the clock on the nightstand, she realized it was pretty much evening already. She checked her phone. Still no new messages. She hadn't heard from him since he'd ended their call sometime in the middle of last night. He'd been pretty pissed. Now everything had changed yet again, not that she had any idea _why_, and he needed to know about this latest development.

She sat down on the bed and tried to call him, not surprised in the least that it went straight to voicemail again. She hesitated for a second, then she said, "Damon, you need to call me right away. Something else has happened. Not bad this time – good, I promise. I love you." Ending the connection, she then proceeded to text him basically the same message. Hopefully he'd get one of them and get in touch soon.

When she went downstairs, she was surprised to find everyone gathering in the drawing room. They all turned and stared at her as she walked in and took a seat on the end of the couch.

"Coffee?" Stefan asked her quietly. She gave him a small smile and nodded, then turned to her friends.

She noticed Bonnie and Jeremy were staring at her with a mixture of disappointment and relief in their eyes. Obviously Caroline and Stefan had filled them in on the events of last night.

"Did you get a hold of Damon yet?" Stefan asked her quietly as he handed her a large mug of steaming goodness.

Elena shook her held and took a sip. "His phone's not on. He's probably on the plane. I left a message." _Or several._

Stefan just nodded and sat back down.

What none of them knew yet, what she had been too distraught the night before to share, was that Damon was now human as well.

And now he was on his way home. God, she could _not wait_ until he walked in that door.


	14. You Are The Everything

**A/N** _So this is the last chapter of the main story. There will be an epilogue to follow soon so don't unsubscribe from me just yet! Special thanks to CreepingMuse for beta-ing this chapter for me. If you haven't, I highly urge you to go read her story "Breaking Point". One of the best D/E fics I've ever read. Also, if you can, please review. It would mean a lot to me to know your thoughts on this. Thank you!_

___Okay, here we go. Hope you like it...  
_

* * *

**Chapter 14 – You Are the Everything**

It was mesmerizing, staring at the place where his headlights merged together into one single beam of light that pierced the darkness along the sun-bleached asphalt. Hypnotizing, almost.

But Damon felt his stomach drop when the glare reflected off the "Welcome to Mystic Falls" sign along the side of the road as the Camaro breezed past. He had no idea what they were driving back into, and he absolutely hated being unprepared.

Katherine sat beside him, singing along to some mindless tune from some mindless radio station that she'd changed the setting to back when they'd pulled out of the airport parking lot on the outskirts of Washington. She'd long ago given up trying to talk to him during this lengthy and complicated journey home. It was one small thing he was grateful for – she had gotten the hint pretty quickly that he had no interest in conversation.

He sighed to himself. They were almost home. And he was honestly afraid of what he might find when he walked through that door. He hoped like hell that Vampire Barbie hadn't been stupid enough to leave Elena's side for one single second. Baby vamps were notoriously unpredictable. His brother or hers or the little witch – any or all of them could quite easily be a drained husk by now. They had no way of knowing what to expect when they got there.

Katherine's phone hadn't rung and he'd totally forgotten to charge his own before they'd left Sydney. At least _forgetting_ was the excuse he was allowing himself to believe. It'd refused to come back on after they'd landed at Dulles Airport. Just one more stupid move on his part. But they were almost home. Any news they needed to know could be given in person shortly. Or tomorrow morning, as the case might be.

Glancing down at the steering wheel as he turned into the long driveway to the boarding house, he realized he was clenching the pebbled leather so hard his knuckles were white. He relaxed his grip, released the breath he'd been holding and pulled up in front of the sprawling house. A few muted lights appeared to be on here and there, but overall the building was dark. Meaning, with any luck the occupants were all asleep. Damon relaxed slightly at the thought.

Katherine glanced over at him. "Home sweet home, huh?" She raised an eyebrow and reached for the door handle. He didn't reply; he just got out of the car, went around to the trunk and began to remove their bags. Her bags, mostly.

He quietly entered the lit foyer with Katherine right behind him. No one was waiting to greet them. The huge house was silent, with the exception of the ticking of the grandfather clock in the next room. He wasn't certain if he was more relieved or disappointed.

Setting her two large suitcases on the floor, he turned to her. "I assume you can still find your way to my brother's room. Or wherever you plan to sleep tonight."

"Yeah, don't help me carry my bags upstairs like a gentleman or anything," she muttered.

She rolled her eyes at him as he ignored her and trudged up the steps with his duffel bag over one shoulder. Every muscle still hurt with each careful movement. He was looking very forward to an imminent hot shower.

Damon paused outside his bedroom door. He heard Katherine swear under her breath as she lugged a suitcase up to the landing below him. With minor interest, he noted that she bypassed Stefan's room and went into one of the empty guestrooms down the hall. Straining his ears, he tried to discern if Elena was in his room. Unfortunately, his normal human hearing wasn't capable of telling one way or another.

He gripped the cool metal of the doorknob in his hand and willed himself to enter.

* * *

Shoving the large suitcase in front of her, Katherine entered the darkened guest room and scrabbled for the light switch along the wall. After she'd dragged her second overstuffed valise up the stairs, muttering curses about Damon's rudeness the whole way, she maneuvered it into place in the corner beside the first one, kicked off her heels and eagerly removed her wilted travel clothes.

With a sigh, she slumped backwards onto the bed. Pushing her head into the unfamiliar pillow, she flung one arm over her eyes and wished that she were tired. Unfortunately her body was on Australian time and, though she was definitely weary and sore, she was not the least bit sleepy. The remnants of her earlier headache still made her brain throb dully.

Katherine had deliberately picked a room at the other end of the landing from Stefan's. The music from her now dead iPod and the radio in Damon's car had provided a welcome distraction earlier, but now she was alone and left in silence with nothing but her own thoughts to keep her entertained. And she wasn't particularly happy about having to face them.

Whether she wanted to or not right now, she loved Stefan; it was an irrefutable fact. She'd loved him for more than a hundred and fifty years. That hadn't changed in the past two months and she doubted if it ever would. But deep down, in a place she rarely allowed herself to go and would never admit out loud under pain of death, lay one simple fact: he had hurt her. She, Katherine Pierce, had allowed herself to become weak enough to let her fucking heart get stomped on. He'd left her. And she _knew_ he would. The minute she found out that Stefan had regained his mortality, she fucking knew he'd go running straight back to Mystic Falls as fast as his little feet could carry him. To Elena. To her goddamn useless little princess of a doppelganger whom she'd known would break his heart for the – what? third time? – as surely as she'd known that Damon would call her shortly after his brother's arrival.

So she'd let him go. She sure as hell wasn't about to beg him to stay. He'd find out when he got home how much he'd miss her and then he'd make his way back with his tail between his legs, full of apologies and declarations of undying love. And she'd make him grovel. She'd make him fucking _earn_ his way back into her good graces. She'd make him see that he couldn't be with anyone but her, forever. Yes, forever, because she had fully intended to turn him again.

And now everything was completely fucked up on that score.

She should be back in Australia venting her frustrations by fucking and eating some locals, those men that every day looked at her like they wanted to devour her when she entered a room. They were drawn to her like moths to the flame. Like horny little pigs to the sexy, big bad wolf. It had been so easy. Always had been, for five hundred years.

She was never supposed to fall in love. Love was a distraction, a weakness, a liability. And look where it'd gotten her? She'd agreed to help Damon for selfish reasons. Not for Damon and certainly not for Elena, but to even the playing field between the boys so that Stefan would understand that Elena would never be his again. So he'd come back to her sooner. Instead, the whole goddamn thing had backfired.

Maybe. But…maybe not? Which was why she was here right now. She felt fucking pathetic but she had to see how this all played out. As pissed as she was at Stefan, she knew that the two of them being human now changed things monumentally.

Standing up, Katherine dug in her suitcase for a red silk kimono, sliding it on over her lithe body. She stalked with a purpose through the dark house down to the library. Finding a half-full bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label on a shelf behind some lesser blends, she smiled to herself as she thought of Damon's annoyance when he eventually discovered this transgression. She poured a nearly full glass, found a novel she hadn't read yet and settled back into a soft leather wingchair. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Sighing softly, Damon twisted the knob, edged the door open with his shoulder and slipped into his dark room. The stupid hinges still creaked. Damn it, he'd meant to take care of that before he'd left. He winced at the sound; so much for any hope of stealth.

He turned his attention toward the bed and could hear Elena's even breathing in the dark. What he wanted to do more than anything was to slip under the covers beside her, wrap his arms around her and just pull her close. _Yeah, 'cause startling a baby vamp wouldn't be dangerous at all._ He was fully aware that wouldn't be in his best interests, no matter how strong the urge was. Okay, shower first, then figure out where he was going to sleep tonight.

Damon contemplated the comparative safely of showering elsewhere, but he'd really missed his own shower, nearly as much as his own bed and the sweet girl lying in it. He decided he'd keep an eye on the door and take the risk. Making his way to the bathroom in the dark, he closed the door gently before flicking on the light. Hopefully the sound of the running water wouldn't wake her, although he knew chances of that were slim. He snorted quietly. She was probably fully aware that he was home now, what with her newly enhanced vampire hearing and all. The fact that she hadn't rolled over and greeted him was actually a point worth noting.

Testing his theory, he ever so softly whispered, "Hello, Elena." He waited by the door for a few beats to see if he detected any movement on the other side. Nothing.

Shrugging, he stripped off his sweaty and rumpled clothing, turned on the spray and stepped into it. He closed his eyes and tried to turn off his brain as he let the hot water beat against his travel-weary flesh for a while. Eventually, he felt more relaxed and the ache in his muscles started to ease up a bit. He quickly washed his hair. When he rinsed it out and opened his eyes, he half expected Elena to be standing there watching him through the glass. She wasn't. Hmm. Could she really not have heard him? Not possible. Maybe she'd left the room while he showered to find a safer place to sleep? He toweled dry and reached for the door to the bedroom before remembering himself. This time, nudity might not be the best idea. After locating a pair of drawstring sleep bottoms in a lower drawer, he carefully stepped back into the adjacent room.

Now that his eyes had grown accustomed to the bright glare of the bathroom, he realized he was now blind in the pitch dark. Damn it, he missed his enhanced vision, too. There was so much to get used to. His girl was still in bed – he could hear her. Since he was certain that she knew he was there, he made a quick decision to turn on a bedside lamp. Lowering his body onto the edge of the bed, he swiveled to face her.

Elena's long chestnut hair was splayed across the pillow and her back was to him, but he could detect the slight rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed. There was no doubt she was asleep.

Damon frowned. It made no sense. Why was she still sleeping? Why the hell had she not noticed he was there? He'd have to have a talk with her about that. Vampires needed to always be aware of their surroundings. They should never leave themselves vulnerable to surprise.

He stared at her for a minute, a dull ache forming in his heart at what they had both just put themselves through for the other. Without thinking he reached over to stroke her shoulder, then stopped his forward momentum, hand in the air, hovering a few inches above her skin. What the fuck was he _doing_? She was now the predator and he the prey, for fucks sake. She was stronger than him, faster than him. He wouldn't stand a chance. And he knew she'd never forgive herself if she hurt him. He drew his hand back. Getting used to their reversed dynamic was clearly going to take some time.

Just as he was about to get up and move to a different room to sleep in for the night, she shifted her body and one hand splayed across the top of the blanket toward him.

His breath caught in his throat. There, on the third finger of her left had, sat his mother's engagement ring. At some point while he'd been gone, she'd found it and put it on.

Heat bloomed behind his eyes and his vision blurred as he stared at it. He turned his face away and pinched the bridge of his nose as he battled with his emotions. A few seconds later he regained control, stood up and leaned over to turn off the lamp, with the full intention of leaving her undisturbed for the night.

Just before his fingers touched the switch, Elena rolled the rest of the way over to face him. Those beautiful brown eyes he'd missed so much flicked open and instantly locked with his. Pushing herself partway up, she stifled a yawn, and a drowsy smile curved her lips.

"Damon?" she said, groggy and sleep-muddled. "You're home!"

He froze and held her gaze, completely lost in her eyes for a moment. Swallowing past the lump in his throat, he replied cautiously, "Yeah. How're you?"

Before he could react, she flung herself out of the bed and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her body snuggly against his. "God, I missed you," she whispered against the skin of his neck.

Damon put both hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her away from him. He ducked his head to look at her straight on and examined her face suspiciously. Her eyes were red-rimmed, sore looking and tired, but normal. The skin around them was a bit darker than usual, but clear. Not a fang in sight. Even though her lips had just been pressed to his throat, no fangs? That was way odd.

He narrowed his eyes. "Why aren't you all fangy right now, with my blood so close? How can you _possibly_ have this much control so soon?"

"Damon…" She paused and he saw tears come to the corners of her eyes. But the smile that curved across her puffy, sleepy, beautiful face simultaneously – it was anything but sad.

"I don't know what happened, but Caroline and I - Tyler, too - when we woke up earlier, we were all human again. So far, we don't know why." She leaned back into him and pressed her lips to his again.

He pulled away from her once more. "_What_ did you say? You're not…"

She was shaking her head at him and grinning again. "Nope." Her hands stroked his face, his neck.

"_None_ of you?"

"Uh uh. We're all human. And I really don't care what caused it, I'm just happy the universe somehow saw fit to fix this mess we both got ourselves into." Elena couldn't stop smiling, couldn't stop touching him.

Damon's mind was reeling. She was human again? And so were Caroline and Tyler? And Katherine. What the _fuck_ had Jerry's spell actually done? Was it possible that all vampires across the world…? _Holy shit_. This was _huge!_ He needed to go talk to Katherine and Stefan. He needed to make some phone calls. He needed…God. The sensation of Elena's fingernails trailing down his bare chest derailed all his practical thought and made his cock stand up and beg for attention. What he _really_ needed was to throw this girl down onto his bed show her how happy he was and how much he loved and missed her. Right the fuck now.

Grabbing her around the waist, he tugged her back against him and kissed her soundly, all other plans forgotten in the overwhelming desire to feel her skin against his. He walked her backward a couple of steps until the back of her knees hit the edge of his bed. They fell onto it together, never once breaking apart.

He had kissed Elena hundreds, maybe thousands, of times before, but this was like kissing her for the very first time again. She still tasted a bit minty from brushing her teeth. She still smelled like her favourite freesia body wash. But his sensations of her were different now, not as sharp, more diluted, but no less intoxicating.

Maybe he wasn't quite as attuned to her as he'd been before, maybe he didn't remove her clothing with quite as much grace, maybe his physical strength wasn't quite as powerful as it used to be. She didn't seem to notice, or care, so why should he? This was exactly what he'd wanted most – to be human with her. To live out the rest of their mortal lives together.

Damon didn't know what he'd ever done to deserve such an incredible reward, but he had no intention of looking this particular gift horse in the mouth.

He dragged his lips away from hers and drew in deep breath. "Elena." He tugged her left hand up between them. "You're wearing the ring."

Her lips curved shyly at the edges. "You noticed?"

"Yep." He paused. "Does this mean what I think it does?" He tried not to let himself sound too hopeful, but he knew he was a lost cause when it came to this girl.

"Ask me again," she whispered, her hands finding their way back to the sides of his jaw.

One eyebrow shot up and he glanced down at their naked bodies, legs entwined. "Do I have to get down on one knee this time?" he asked doubtfully, but with a playful smirk curving his lips.

She didn't grin back; she just held his gaze with those huge, serious eyes and waited.

Reaching up, he pulled her left hand from his cheek and carefully removed the ring from her finger. Squeezing it in his palm, he took a deep breath.

"Elena Gilbert, I love you with everything I am. Will you please make me the happiest man alive and agree to marry me?" He attempted to be serious but he couldn't stop the grin from sliding into place when he said the work 'alive'. Before she had a chance to reply, he amended, "One day. When you're ready."

A wide brilliant smile lit up her gorgeous face. "Yes, Damon Salvatore, I would be honoured to be your wife. Soon. Because I love you, too, and I _am_ ready."

She might have wanted to say more, he wasn't sure, because his lips didn't wait before they crushed into hers again, showing her exactly how much her words had moved him. He felt her wind her arms tightly around him and pull his body flush against hers. He swore he could feel their heartbeats rapidly throbbing together.

When they came up for air, he took her hand in his again and gently slid the sapphire engagement ring back home.

"Just where it belongs," he murmured, looking down at her hand with reverence. "It fits like it was made just for you. _We_ fit like we were made for each other."

He lifted his eyes back to hers.

"We were," she whispered. And no more talking was needed.


	15. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_(10 months, 2 weeks, 5 days and 6 hours later)_

Elena woke up alone in her childhood bed and, without opening her eyes, immediately reached across for Damon. When she didn't find him, only the cool sheets where his warm body should have been, a frown crossed her still half-asleep face. She groaned and rolled over, wrenching her eyes open in the glare of the morning light.

Then she remembered what day this was and she smiled to herself, feeling a burst of adrenaline.

Pushing the covers back, she jumped out of bed, stood on her tiptoes and stretched her arms high over her head, twisting her hands together. There was so much to do today! First things first, though.

She grabbed her cell phone and opened a new text message.

_Good morning fiancé. This is the last time I get to call you that. Missed you last night. Wish you were here. About to head into the shower…_

She hit the 'Send' button and dropped the phone onto the corner of her old white-painted dresser. Stripping her pajamas off and tugging out her ponytail, she reached for the doorknob to the bathroom. Just as her hand touched the metal, she heard the unmistakable buzz of her phone behind her.

_That was fast._ She eagerly picked it up to check the incoming text.

_Why hello almost Mrs. Salvatore. I get to call you that for the rest of our lives. Miss you too. Will more than make it up to you later, promise. Wish I was in your shower right now. _

A huge smile broke out on her face and she couldn't help the dirty images that popped into her mind for a moment. She stifled them for now though – there would be plenty of time for that later tonight. And for the rest of their lives together.

She detected the sounds of baby Sheila fussing down the hall. That meant her brother and Bonnie would be up now, too. Checking the clock, she realized Caroline would be arriving in half an hour and then she wouldn't have a minute's peace for the rest of the day. She jumped into the bathroom and locked the doors before anyone could beat her to it.

* * *

The low droning of cicadas in the backyard drifted in through the open windows as she descended the stairs. It was a perfect hazy, warm May morning, shaping up to be a lovely day. Elena was sure it would fly by at the speed of light, but she couldn't wait to get on with it.

Breezing into the kitchen, she dropped a kiss onto Sheila's dark curls before heading straight for the cupboard to grab her old mug and fill it with her morning pick-me-up.

"Morning, "Lena. Today's your big day. You nervous? Or stoked?" Bonnie gave her a wide smile as she spooned cereal into the chubby infant's eagerly waiting mouth. The adorable little girl with the big brown eyes had just turned six months old a few weeks ago. Mother and daughter had been living at the Gilbert house since the baby was born. Jeremy's bedroom had been turned into a nursery and he and Bonnie had taken over the master bedroom.

Elena still felt at home here, but she recognized that it didn't seem quite as much like _her_ home as it used to. The toys and bottles and containers of wipes conveyed that it was home to a new little family. She was Auntie Elena these days, in her own house, and she was totally cool with that. Her real home was in Philadelphia now, or at the boarding house or wherever Damon happened to be.

Which, right now, was probably still in bed, trying to catch a few more hours sleep before he had to make himself presentable. Alaric and Stefan were at the boarding house with him and she had no doubt that it had been a late one last night for them all.

Stefan had arrived in town from New York yesterday afternoon and she was sure the boys had done a lot of booze-filled catching up. Thankfully he'd left Katherine at home in the city. Elena no longer felt abject loathing for the woman, but she was still relieved to not have to deal with her doppelganger and the unpleasant memories she dredged up for both Damon and herself, on their wedding day. At least Stefan seemed to be much happier these days; for that she was grateful.

"I can't wait," she replied. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she returned her friend's grin.

Before Elena could finish wolfing down a single slice of toast and jam, Caroline had breezed in the front door with her dress bag draped over one arm.

"You girls ready? We have to be at the salon in less than ten minutes!" She looked a bit frazzled as she stepped into the kitchen.

"Elena, explain to me again why exactly Alaric is qualified to marry you?" she asked, turning a quizzical look on her friend.

Elena smiled. She seemed to be doing a lot of that this morning. "Like I told you, he got ordained over the internet. Through the Church of Higher Enlightenment, I think it's called. Don't worry, Damon and I checked it out. It's legit."

"Hmm. Sounds pretty new-agey to me. As long as you're cool with it, I'm not about to argue, though. It's actually kinda fitting that Ric marry you two, after all." With that she turned around and trotted upstairs to stash her dress in Elena's bedroom.

Elena gulped back her coffee and Bonnie passed the tiny spoon to Jeremy as she kissed her little one on the forehead.

"You're on baby duty today, but I'll be back for a feeding in a couple of hours. Text me if there's any problems." Bonnie also gave the younger Gilbert a quick kiss on her way to the foyer.

"Don't worry, we're gonna be just fine, aren't we, Sheils?' he replied, not taking his gaze off the baby. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that Jeremy was completely taken with her.

Elena raised a brow in her brother's direction. She still couldn't quite get used to hearing him talk to the baby in that tone of voice. She put her mug in the sink and smiled at them both as she slipped into her shoes. Caroline whipped down the stairs at nearly her old vamp-speed and the three girls hurried out the door.

* * *

They returned to the house around lunchtime, hair all elegantly curled and pinned, teased and sprayed. Caroline pressed a granola bar into Elena's hand and rushed her up the stairs. No more time for herself, not today. In an hour and a half she'd be standing in the back yard, promising vows of eternal love in front of God and all her friends.

Caroline made a beeline for her iPod on the dresser and turned up the volume. The energetic beat of Ball Park Music's "It's Nice to be Alive" filled the room and she began to bounce on her heels to the rhythm.

"Make-up and getting dressed – this is our girl time! We can let go and have some fun," she exclaimed.

Elena smiled at her former-vampire best friend. Trust Caroline to find a way to relax her after all.

It seemed a bit strange to think of Caroline as a "former-vampire", but she couldn't help it. Even after a full year, she still hadn't been able to completely wrap her mind around the fact that Care, Damon, Stefan, Tyler and Katherine weren't vampires. The fact that vampires _actually_ existed had been ingrained in her for seven years now; it was sort of difficult to accept that now they no longer did. Anywhere.

It had been a big adjustment for Damon. She was fully aware that he still sometimes got frustrated with his human vulnerabilities and weaknesses. But overall she knew that he was happy and that he wouldn't change a thing. Elena had never seen Damon as content as he'd been over the past year with her. Living in Philadelphia, essentially starting over with a new job, making new friends and building a brand new life together – it'd done wonders for their relationship. They had learned the hard away the perils of keeping secrets. Now the lines of communication were completely open and she'd never felt closer to him. Every day she fell more and more in love with this complex man.

She felt herself tear up slightly at the thought of everything they had gone through to make it to this day. But one glance at Caroline bopping about her bedroom unzipping dress bags and laying out accessories had the grin plastered back on her face. She stripped to her lingerie, slipped on a robe and found herself pushed into her desk chair and wheeled into the bathroom for make-up application.

As Caroline was deftly working her magic with her brushes on Elena's eyelids, Bonnie slipped in behind them and tugged the blonde back into the bedroom. Elena could hear their low voices, but not what was being said.

Caroline's volume rose enough for her to overhear, "But he can't! It's bad luck!" Following that there was more murmuring that she couldn't decipher. Finally she heard Caroline sigh, "Fine!"

She flounced back into the bathroom and resumed working on Elena's face.

"What was that all about?" she ventured.

"Nothing. Hold still, I'm almost done." Caroline flashed a wide I-know-something-you-don't-know smile at her in the mirror.

When she finished with Elena's eye makeup, they both took a moment to admire Caroline's handiwork. Elena's jaw dropped in shock. She had never seen her eyes pop quite like that before. Soft dark blue swirled together with warm granite. Deep navy eyeliner was smudged right into the shadow so you couldn't tell where one ended and the next began. The sexy, smokey-yet-soft look was topped off with black mascara, although she hadn't needed much. Elena's lashes were already so long and thick; only the smallest amount of definition was really necessary.

"God, Care – they look amazing! Thank you so much," she exclaimed.

"Glad you like it. I have to run downstairs and check on something. Meet you in the bedroom to help you get your dress on in a couple minutes." Caroline moved to walk out the door.

"Aren't you gonna do my lips?" Elena wondered, rubbing them together as she examined her face in the mirror more closely.

Caroline turned to look at her, suppressing a smile. "Yeah. Um…I'll do them after you're in your dress. So you don't accidentally get lipstick on it while putting it on."

Elena heard the music shut off and the door click shut as her friend left the room. She stuffed the last bite of the granola bar into her mouth and tossed the wrapper in the wastebasket. Giving her face one last close inspection in the mirror, she headed back into her room.

Damon sat waiting for her on the edge of her bed. He raised his eyes to meet hers as she stopped in her tracks in the doorway. Standing up, he took one step toward her, a brown oval box in one hand.

He looked amazing in his black-on-black tuxedo. Truly debonair. Even after five years together, her breath still caught in her throat at the sight of him.

"You're not supposed to be here," she whispered, although the smile on her face belied that she had absolutely no problem with it. As she moved closer to him, she caught the light scent of his cologne. God damn, he smelled good!

"I know. But I wanted to give you something. I thought you'd want to have it now instead of later." He lifted the velvet box and pressed it into her hands.

She looked down at it, wondering why it seemed so familiar. Suddenly she gasped and her eyes grew wide as she realized. She lifted the top off the box to reveal the antique necklace that she had first seen in Mrs. Washington's home almost a year ago - the same one that used to belong to Damon's mother.

"I…I don't know what to say, Damon. How did you get this?" she stammered, raising her shocked eyes to meet his again.

Damon gently lifted it out. "Turn around," he said softly.

She turned her back to him and he very carefully fastened the old fashioned clasp at the nape of her neck. He put both hands on her shoulders and moved her in front of the mirror above her dresser. It still had old photos of her and her family from years ago tucked into the edges of the frame. She used to look at them sadly and think they represented happier days. Viewing them now, Elena knew that her parents and Aunt Jenna would be so proud of her today. No matter how much she missed them, she understood now that her happiest days were no longer locked away in her past. They were today and tomorrow and every day after that. Every day with Damon at her side was a gift to be treasured.

She locked eyes with him in her mirror. "It's beautiful. Thank you so much." Reaching up, she ran her fingertips over the twin sapphires in the pendant on her chest. A beam of sunlight coming in through her bedroom window glinted off the matching ones on her ring finger.

Damon's hands softly stroked her shoulders as his eyes conveyed to Elena's reflection how much love he felt for her in that moment.

"After you showed me the photos of it, I paid a little visit to Mrs. Washington last year. I explained to her that I was a descendant of Mrs. Salvatore and she was more than happy to let me buy the necklace. For a generous price, of course. A lot more than those Antiques Roadshow shysters were trying to offer her, anyway." His fingers trailed across her collarbone and made their way down to wrap around her hand that was still fingering the stones. "It was meant to be with you. I knew it from the first time I laid eyes on it. My mother would have wanted it to stay with the ring. And she would have wanted them both to go to the woman I loved."

Elena swiveled in his arms and pressed her lips to his. She understood now why Caroline had decided against applying her lipstick. They kissed for a minute or two, loving and sweet, but all too soon Elena felt her temperature rising and her growing need for him begin to do dangerous things to her self-control.

Regretfully she pulled back. "You're too distracting. You have to get out of here and let me get dressed!"

His voice was low and seductive in her ear. 'What if I'd rather get you undressed? I'm sure they wouldn't _dare_ barge in here without knocking."

"Tempting, Mr. Salvatore, tempting. But, no. I have to get ready. Didn't I tell you? I'm getting married in forty-five minutes." She gasped again as his lips traced a trail down her jawbone to the pulse point on her throat.

"Really? Who's the lucky guy? I'll rip his heart out before he can get near you," Damon growled against her skin, his tease only causing her arousal to spike higher.

She put both hands on his chest and shoved him toward the door. "Go! I'll see you soon enough."

"If you insist. But I'll get back at you for this later. You know that, right?" He leaned back in to drop a last kiss onto her lips and strode purposefully out of the room, leaving her staring at his back with a huge, lust-driven smile.

_How did I ever get so lucky?_

* * *

Elena paused at the top of the stairs and looked down at Jeremy waiting for her below. She smiled at the look of astonishment on his face.

Walking slowly down the steps, she was careful not to get her heels caught on the hem of her lace-edged gown. The dress she'd finally settled on was a simple cream-coloured silk, with lace trim along the low neckline, cuffs, and bottom of the slim skirt. Small silk-covered buttons formed a row along the inside of each forearm and down the middle of her back. A slit ran up the side of the long skirt to just above her knees, allowing her to walk with ease. There was no doubt it was modern; its lines draped her figure perfectly, but it also had a call back to a more old-fashioned style. She'd known the moment she'd seen it on herself in the bridal shop wall of mirrors that it was 'The One'.

Her brother's mouth hung open slightly as she reached the foot of the stairs and put her hand on the crook of his arm. "Hey," she said quietly.

"Elena, you look absolutely stunning. Really," he breathed, straightening his shoulders. "Never thought I'd look at my sister and think that."

She flashed him a smile. "You look pretty dapper yourself, Jer." He had on one of their father's charcoal gray suits that had been tailored to fit him perfectly. With a white shirt and royal blue vest underneath, he looked more grown up than his 22 years.

Caroline and Bonnie, also in rich, royal blue came into the foyer.

"Time to get this show on the road," Caroline chirped. Stefan stepped into the kitchen doorway behind her. He eyes found Elena's instantly and he gave her a tight grin.

"Could I have a moment with the bride before we go outside?" he asked softly, his gaze never leaving hers. The question may have been worded generally, but it was obvious it was directed at Elena.

"Sure. You guys go on. We'll be right out," she replied.

Jeremy and the girls shrugged and went into the living room to wait for them by the back patio doors.

Stefan reached to take one of her hands. "You look gorgeous," he murmured.

"Thank you, Stefan. You look pretty good yourself." Elena returned his smile.

"I just want to tell you how glad I am for you. For you both. I've never seen my brother so happy. I didn't think I ever would. Thank _you_, Elena. Thank you for changing his life in every possible way." He bent over and dropped a quick kiss onto her cheek.

"I wish you both a lifetime of everything wonderful this world has to offer."

Elena's throat constricted a bit and she felt moisture come to the corners of her yes.

"I appreciate that, but I'm about to ruin Caroline's perfectly applied make-up job, so no more mushy stuff. Go. It's probably time for you to escort them out, anyway," she replied softly.

He smiled at her again and left the room.

She took a deep breath, straightened her spine and followed him into the living room.

The sound of violins started up outside the open window behind the couch and they knew that was their signal. Stefan opened the back door and tilted out both elbows for Caroline and Bonnie to take.

As they marched slowly down the makeshift 'aisle' between the rows of folding chairs, Elena caught a glimpse of Damon standing stock-still across the backyard. Alaric, resplendent in all white, tilted his head and whispered something into his ear, which caused a thin, tight smirk to grace his stiff face.

A small lump formed in her throat as she grinned to herself. Was Damon Salvatore actually nervous for once in his life?

Her thought was interrupted by Jeremy's whisper, "You ready?"

Elena looked up at her brother and nodded. She slipped her arm through his and turned her gaze back to all the eyes looking at her, all the swiveled heads of everyone she cared about. She saw them, but she didn't really see them. All she could focus on were the crystal-clear blue eyes staring at her from the back of the yard with an overwhelming mixture of adoration and awe.

Never had she seen him smile wider or look happier. She knew her own expression mirrored his perfectly.

Elena took the first step forward as the violins swelled. Then the next. Then the one after that. Not once did her gaze waiver from his. The music, the flashes of the cameras, the people whispering quietly as they watched her – it all faded away. All she knew was she and Damon. And each step she took brought her closer to him, closer to the start of their future.

'_And they all lived happily ever after_.' _That's us_, she thought. _That's what this ceremony symbolizes. The beginning of our happily ever after._

He was her home as much as she was his and they would navigate the rest of their lives together. _'Til death do us part._

And maybe then some.

F I N

* * *

**A/N** _A HUGE THANK YOU to all my readers who've taken the time to leave me reviews and to favourite me or my stories. I appreciate you guys all so much! I notice most of my reviews are coming through as "Guest" lately. So if I don't say thank you directly, that is probably why - I have no idea who these reviews are from. If you're able to sign yours before you submit, I'd appreciate it! :)  
_

_A very special thanks to all my wonderful betas whole helped me immeasurably with this entire story. lauren3210, jazzywriter22, morvamp and CreepingMuse. You ladies are the best and I love you all. Readers, please go read their stories. You will thank me for it - they are all amazingly skilled writers._

_Lastly, I'm polishing up a Damon one-shot that I think you guys might like. If you haven't already, please consider Author Alerting me so that you find out when I put it up. I totally can't wait to hear what you think of it._


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